


Fleet Week

by Foxx_in_soxx



Series: Fleet Week And Other Exciting Weeks Of Our Lives [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Aged-Up Character(s), All lived happily ever after, Alternate Universe - Military, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anal Beads, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Armin with a ponytail, BDSM, Bad BDSM Etiquette, Blow Jobs, Bottom Armin Arlert, Bottom Erwin Smith, Bottom Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Boys Kissing, Boys' Love, Butt Plugs, Car Sex, Childhood Friends, Cock Rings, Come Sharing, Daddy Kink, Doggy Style, Drama, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Family, Floor Sex, Fluff and Smut, Foursome - M/M/M/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gags, Growing Up, Hand Jobs, Handcuffs, Happy Ending, Hostage Situations, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jean Is A Little Shit, Kidnapping, Large Cock, Love, Love Bites, M/M, Masturbation, Model Eren Yeager, Multi, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Not Suitable/Safe For Work, Oral Sex, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Pining, Praise Kink, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rimming, Rough Sex, Safe Sane and Consensual, Sex, Sex on a Car, Shameless Smut, Sharing a Bed, Smut, Soldier Erwin Smith, Soldier Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Switching, Threesome - M/M/M, Top Armin Arlert, Top Eren Yeager, Top Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Vibrators, Violence, Voyeurism, Wordcount: Over 100.000, Yaoi, non-con Jean/Armin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-05-21 04:34:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 25
Words: 135,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14908409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxx_in_soxx/pseuds/Foxx_in_soxx
Summary: ..Suddenly, there was the sound of a gun cocking, and Jean froze, left hand halfway down Armin’s undone pants, still straddling the smaller man, right hand fully closed around his delicate neck. Looking to the side, there was a short man in a military flight suit, with eyes the color of a stormy sky, hair ink black and styled in an undercut. He had a military regulation pistol pointed at Jean’s temple.“Kirstein.” The firm voice came from the man at least a foot shorter than Jean. “Unhand him and stand immediately. Or I swear to god I’ll paint the floor with you.”A tall, blonde man, with an enormous body came over to Armin. Armin’s eyes scanned over the man, who looked like a modern day Atlas, dressed in a commander’s outfit: white pants, a black jacket and white belt, with multiple ribbons and stripes. He had his hat tucked under his arm as he knelt beside him. Armin instantly felt safer with him there, he had kind, blue eyes, soft looking golden hair, and arms that he wanted to crawl into, where no one could harm him...Armin and Eren's perfectly boring lives get turned upside down when they meet the men of their dreams during Fleet Week.





	1. Saturday

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first fic so I hope you like it!  
> This will be a lot of WinMin, because there should be more written about them, but there will also be quite a bit EreRi for you Eren/Levi lovers, as well as some Armin/Eren. I ship everyone, basically.  
> Jean is a total asshat in this story, I kind of hate that I wrote him this way. There is some rape/non-con between he and Armin in a later chapter.  
> My next fic will be Jean/Marco to make up for this. Sorry, Jean. You deserve better than me.
> 
> My disclaimer:  
> I am not and never was in the military. I am well aware that my uniforms/craft names/ranks etc. may not be correctly utilized. I mean no disrespect to all the men and women all over the world fighting to keep us safe. Thank you for your service, I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart.  
> I got this idea because I saw the advertisement for Fleet Week on TV while I was at the gym. (Just like our boy Armin in chapter 2). I have never been, so yes, I just made the majority of what happens at Fleet Week up. Please don't be disappointed if you go to Fleet Week and the following doesn't happen to you.  
> For those of you who don't know who don't know what Fleet Week is, it is a long held tradition by the US Navy, Coast Guard and Marines in which active military ships recently deployed on overseas operations dock in a variety of major cities for one week. Once the ships dock, the crews can visit the city's tourist attractions (or other attractions if you know what I mean) and the ships are open for civilian tours. There are also various airshow demonstrations.  
> I don't own any of Attack on Titan's characters or names, this is a work of fiction.

It was still dark, the first light of the June morning beginning to barely creep under the thick decorative curtains pulled tight over the enormous hotel windows, which looked out over the never-sleeping city below. One of the two occupants in the king sized bed stirred, the crisp white hotel sheets tangled around his muscular, tanned waist. His hand was laid out on the pillows above him, his fingers intertwined gently with the blonde’s laying next to him.

The small man was spooning him comfortably, his shoulder length blonde hair fanned out like an angel’s, and his lily-white skin covered in light pink kiss marks. In the darkness of the room, a long zipper sounded, signified the zipping up of a military flight suit, and across the room there was more rustling, the sound of a second person slipping into a uniform. The other occupants were trying to move about the dark room as silently as possible, as to not wake the two men still sleepily tangled up in bed.

The man now dressed in the flight suit approached the bed, his small hand ghosting over the exposed skin of the dark haired sleeping boy. His gunmetal grey eyes scanned over the scratch marks down the boy’s back and deep red bite marks along his shoulder, admiring his handiwork from the night before.

“We need to go.” The man across the room said quietly.

“Should we wake them up and say goodbye?”

The second man approached the bed, much larger than the first, his flaxen hair, usually well kept, was still messy with sleep. He was dressed in his complete officer’s uniform: white pants, a black decorated jacket, his hat tucked under his arm. He lowered to his knees, and reaching toward the blonde in bed, he ran his fingers through his hair gently, while his cobalt eyes looked over the boy sleeping so peacefully.

“No.” He whispered, as he drew the small white hand to his lips and kissed it. “If he looks at me with those big blue eyes one more time, I know I’ll never want to leave this room again.”

His partner hummed, as his cold, ivory fingers gently touched the tan skin of the second sleeping boy, making him stir but not wake. “You’re right. We fucked up, Erwin.”

“This is the first time in my life that I haven’t wanted Fleet Week to end.”

\--

The dark haired man awoke suddenly, and realized that there was someone sleeping next to him. Reaching down and running his hand down the face of the man molded into him, he recognized the familiar features immediately as his roommate and best friend. He could tell he was awake by the sharpness of his breathing and the way he was picking at his hangnails, his hands stretched out in front of him on the bed.

“They left us.” The man next to him spoke, not turning his head to look back at the man he was spooning. “They left us, Eren.” He said, his voice cracking.

 _'Did you expect them to stay?_ ' The thought ran through Eren’s head, but he didn’t let it escape his lips. He wouldn’t say that, not to Armin. Armin was a logical thinker. He knew he was thinking the same thing, but was speaking with his heart instead of his mind, which he so rarely did.

Eren squeezed Armin’s shoulder. “Yes they did.”

“What assholes. What is this?” He gritted his teeth.

Eren didn’t know how to respond so he didn’t say anything.

“Why didn’t they say goodbye before they left?”

“I don’t know, Min, maybe they didn’t want to wake us up.” Eren said, running his thumb over the smooth skin of Armin’s back, feeling the raised kiss marks left so gently the night before.

“They were so kind to us. After all the things they said to us I thought...”

“Maybe they were just in a hurry, Min. They have to leave this morning.”

“I thought we had something. Enough to say thank you at least.” Armin mumbled out the last few words, like he didn’t really know what he wanted to say.

“Yeah. I thought so too.” Eren agreed, his words of affirmation not matching his own thoughts. ' _This is Fleet Week, they’ve probably banged 5 other guys on the five other nights they were here._ ' He thought to himself. _'I would never expect to be someone special to them_.' Thinking that made some sort of distressed emotion flush through him, but he would rather tell himself the truth then hold onto some twisted hope for happily ever after.

Armin didn’t speak for awhile, but Eren could hear his telltale upset tick, the biting of his lower lip. Eren wondered if he had chewed it raw yet. “I want to go home, Eren.” He finally whispered.

“Yeah, me too. Let's get out of here.”

Armin crawled to the edge of the bed, he put his feet on the floor and got up, trying to stand, but his legs instantly collapsed under him and he fell face down onto the white shag rug covering the floor. “Fuck.” He muttered, an unusual occurrence, as Armin rarely used foul language.

Eren moved to help him up. “I’m sorry, Min.” Eren said quietly, as he helped him to his feet, his own legs shaking a bit.

“Why are you sorry? This was all my idea.”

“I just am. This was a mistake. We should have left when we were going to last night. Before this all happened.”

“We don’t even...fucking...know their real names.” Armin said numbly.

“Yeah. Its…” Eren wasn’t sure what he was trying to say. It was true. They had both an amazing one night stand with nameless soldiers. It’s not like it was his or Armin’s first time. But even after one night they had grown more attached to the strangers than anyone they had ever before met. _'It's unfortunate_.' Were the words in his head, but it was so much more than that. It was overall a shitty, bitter feeling.

“I don’t want to talk about this.” Armin whispered, yanking on his pants as Eren retrieved his own from the other side of the room. “Lets just go home and pretend last night didn’t happen.”

“Yeah. I think that’s for the best.”


	2. Thursday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming back for chapter two! 
> 
> Chapter one was a "flash forward". This will be the start of our heroes' journey, and begins Thursday, before the events of chapter one.

48 hours earlier

Armin’s tennis shoes pounded rhythmically on the treadmill, the same playlist he listened to every morning vibrating in his wireless headset. The same treadmill he had been on yesterday, the same playlist, the same routine.  
After this, he would wipe down the treadmill, and take a shower in the far right shower stall. He’d get to work at exactly 6:57 and grab a black and white mocha from the Starbucks in his building before he started work at 7:00. Every day. Exactly the same.  
His workday would consist of the same thing it always did. His job as a line editor made him feel more like a computer than it did a human. Editing and processing for eight hours straight. At 4:00 he would tell himself it was time to go home, then spend approximately between 20 and 45 minutes finishing up his project.  
He would commute home, eat dinner with Eren, his best friend and roommate, and spend the rest of the night writing or gaming. He listened to his feet hit the treadmill.

He. Was. So. Boring.

His life had been completely stagnant since the end of his relationship with Jean eleven months ago. Maybe that was when this all started to happen, his boring, monotonous, safe lifestyle. Yeah, that's when it was.  
Armin and Jean’s relationship had lasted nearly five years, and had turned horrible, abusive, and unhealthy by the time it ended. Somehow, though, Armin was convinced that he deserved it all. Jean was right. Everything was his fault. He deserved every hit and kick and obscene remark dealt to him. He didn’t know why he had clung to Jean for so long. Maybe because in his mind, those few times that he petted his head and told him he loved him more than anything were worth the pain.  
The breakup was what began his overwhelming insecurity with, well, everything. It was the last words Jean had said to him, “You never satisfied me. You’ll never be enough of a man for anyone.” The last words, followed by the fight that had landed him in the hospital for weeks with a broken jaw and sternum, had been enough to tear him right down to absolutely nothing feeling absolutely worthless.

Armin closed his crystal blue eyes. He hated everything. Even himself. He was pathetic, lonely and weak. He ran his fingers through his short, golden ponytail and looked at himself in the wall length mirror across from the treadmills. There was hardly anyone else in the gym at the early hour, farther down on the treadmills was a younger woman, donning a high bun and a purple tank top, checking him out in a very obvious fashion, but he ignored the stare.

He was in good shape. With strong, lean muscle, defined shoulders and calves, he looked strong and fit. His choppy fringe hung in front of his tired blue eyes, and his heart shaped face hand gotten a little longer, maturing with age, but still carrying the same delicate features. At 26 he had stopped growing at about 5’8”, still three inches shorter than his roommate, who was one year younger than he. He sighed.

 _'I need a change. I need to do something_.' He thought.

His eyes scrolled up from the mirror to the TV above, the morning news was on.  
The newscaster, the same one who was there every morning, was a very chipper Petra Ral. She had strawberry blonde hair and a large smile. She looked like the type that would be adventurous and good company. Armin always smiled when he saw her face, no matter what mood he was in. Armin’s playlist in his ears, he read the white and black subtitles running along the bottom of the TV screen.  
"An enormous house fire started downtown. The family was not home at the time, however, the family cat did escape and is doing well." Petra spoke cheerfully, a picture of a fluffy orange cat appearing by her head.  
Armin smiled at this. He loved cats. Probably more than people. The only reason they didn’t have one...or five...is because their apartment had a very strict no pet policy. However, this didn’t stop Eren from keeping a very large ball python in a terrarium in their kitchen.  
"In other news," Petra continued, "Tomorrow is Friday, and the last full day of Fleet Week! If you haven’t had a chance to see the festivities being put on by the Coast Guard, Navy and Marine Corps downtown, now would be the time. There are tons of exciting shows, as well as lonely sailors looking for a piece of home. They’ll be here through Saturday morning, so make sure you grab some of that nice sailor booty before they’re out of here!" Petra gave a wink to the camera, and then look the side, as if someone off camera had just scolded her for the blatant innuendo.  
A camera panned across the downtown harbor, showing dozens of large, grey ships docked and civilians touring them, as well as thousands of soldiers dressed in different types of military garb excitedly searching for all the city had to offer.  
“Fleet week.” Armin murmured to himself. He looked at the sailors posing for pictures with strangers, the ongoing parade and the jets doing exciting demonstrations in the sky.  He hadn’t been downtown in awhile, and he did love ships and airplanes, and of course everyone loves a man in uniform. Maybe it would be nice to go downtown and take a look around. He’d have to think about it.

The rest of the day went by like a blur, exactly as it always did. Shower, work, dinner, nothing. 24 hours later, he found himself of the exact same treadmill, doing the exact same run, watching Petra on the news again. He sighed to himself. How did the days go by so fast? He regretted the days he lived like this, just floating by, not doing anything. Tonight would be different, he promised himself that. Even if he just changed his clothes and went outside, it would already be a different experience than he had had in a long time.

\--

He got home at the usual time, around 4:45. Eren was making steak and corn on the cob on the grill outside their small 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment. It wasn’t a large place, and the two were both making enough money to afford something bigger, but this was home. Just Armin, Eren, and Ropter, Eren’s black, easily excited python.  
“Hey, Eren.”  
“Hey Min. How was work?” Eren asked as he pushed the steak around on the grill. Eren had grown into an unnecessarily attractive man, with tousled chocolate hair, shining teal eyes, and almond skin. He was the opposite of Armin in every way, from skin tone to temperament and although they had many disagreements because of their differences, they would be friends until the day they died.  
“It was fine, you know, the same. How about you?”  
“It was good. Went downtown for a couple hours, had a shoot for that athletic store 'Starter.' The traffic was nuts down by the waterfront. After the shoot I came back here and worked on some designs for this little start up podcast that needs a website logo.”  
“Awesome. When will 'Starter' be featuring your photos?”  
“Who knows. They wanted some for their display boards in stores but also some for their catalogue. They said they’d let me know when it went live.”  
Armin nodded. “Very cool. I’m going to go change my clothes really fast.”

Eren had two freelance jobs. He used his graphic design degree for what it was worth, making advertisements and logos upon request. He was talented, had a good eye and knew how to make people’s visions come to life, which sometimes was a hard task. Eren had also been scouted as a model, and did shoots here and there when he could pick them up. The extra money was nice, but according to him, it was a little uncanny seeing your own photo upon entering a store or opening a magazine.

Armin sighed, entering his room. He had taken the smaller bedroom in the apartment, which was obviously designed to be an office, being as it was more of a glorified closet than an actual bedroom. He had picked up his mismatched bedroom furniture at the cheapest places possible during college. There was a small twin bed pushed up against the far wall, an overloaded bookshelf, a dresser, and a glass writing desk stacked with books and notepads. Next to the glass writing desk was another desk with a computer, keyboard, and gaming headset, (and there was no end to Eren's mockery regarding his two-desk situation, even though he had explained he needed one for writing and one for gaming.) There was a nightstand next to the bed, and a sliding white door that opened into a small clothes closet.

Armin dug through his closet, looking for something to wear downtown. He tried on a few different outfits, jeans and a tee-shirt, jeans and a button-up, black pants and a vest...he couldn’t find anything he looked good in due to his change in shape and weight loss from working out. He finally he just slammed his closet door shut with a frustrated grunt.  
There was a knock on his bedroom door a minute later, and Eren squeaked it open. “You okay buddy?” He asked peeking in.  
Armin was standing in the middle of his room, clothes all around, in nothing but his black athletic boxers.  
Eren looked over his roommate's small, toned frame. He had his hair back in a ponytail, bangs hiding his eyes, and looked like a downtown hipster model, attractive in a completely non-mainstream way. “Why are you naked, Min?”

“I wanted to go to Fleet Week and I can’t find anything to wear.” He let out a little whine. “Everything is too big or looks dumb.”  
Eren’s mouth gaped. “You’re going out, Armin? That’s great!” Eren entered Armin’s room, walking around it quickly scooping all the discarded clothes up into a pile and putting them on his writing chair. “Can I come with you downtown?”  
“Yeah, I’d like that, if I had something to wear.”  
Eren looked him over. “Come with me. I think some of my older clothes will fit you, from before my growth spurt.”

He grabbed Armin's hand and dragged him down the hallway to his room.


	3. This Is Why I Don't Socialize

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for visiting chapter three! I've been cranking these chapters out the last few days, I am posting what I already have finished as well as writing future chapters. Once I've posted what I already have completed, I'll start a consistent weekly posting schedule. 
> 
> We first meet Jean in this chapter. He's a douchewaffle. *bad language and many slurs coming up*  
> Sorry Jean. I promise I'll write you into a sexy sex Marco/Jean fic to make up for what I've turned you into. You deserve better.

Two hours later they had finished their dinner, showered and dressed and were on their way downtown.  
Eren had dressed himself in nice jeans, converse, and a black long-sleeved henley, his brown hair tousled and wild. He had picked out some of his smaller clothes for Armin: distressed jeans, a charcoal v-neck shirt, and flat black Vans, his hair pulled back into his usual golden ponytail.

The Uber driver let the pair out at Waterfront Park, a beautiful, large park with a fountain, towering green trees, a walking path and benches. The park overlooked the enormous shimmering bay and harbor. On the other side of the harbor, more of the downtown area was visible, hustling and bustling just the same.  
Waterfront Park was usually visited by performers, musicians, and street vendors, but now was filled to the brim with civilians and soldiers dressed in their recognizable uniforms, waiting for the evening airshow to start.

“Looks like we made it just in time.” Eren said, as he grabbed Armin’s wrist and yanked him through the crowd until they reached the railing at the edge of the bay. "Front row seats." He grinned, releasing Armin, securing their position pressed tight against the railing.

The majority of the ships had safely docked in the large harbor, however, anchored far out in the bay was an enormously large and daunting ship, least three football fields in length. It was long and flat, jets lining the exposed flight deck. An Aircraft Carrier. Completely silent, yet imposing and powerful.  
“That’s the 'Trost.'” Armin said, pointing at the giant Aircraft Carrier isolated in the water. “The navy's planes are going to be taking off from there.”  
Eren gaped at it. Even from far away, he could see how huge the ship was. He had no idea how the Commander had steered the gigantic vessel down the small canal into the bay for the show. He was astonished at the skill he must have.

“Wow. What an enormous ship. How long do you think that runway is?” Eren asked, looking over the short, flat runway lining the flight deck, truly in awe. “Do pilots crash a lot?”  
“The runway is about 300 to 600 feet, depending on the size of the carrier. That isn’t long, no matter which way you slice it, it usually takes comfortable a 2,000 foot runway for a plane to take off. Aircraft Carriers have catapults that assist in the takeoff process, I’m not exactly sure how they work, I think they’re steam powered? Crashes were pretty consistent up until the ‘80s or so, but as technology has gotten better, and training and whatnot, the casualty numbers have decreased.”  
Eren gripped the edge of the decorated railing at the water’s edge. “You always know a lot about this stuff, Min. I’m so glad we came out tonight!”  
Armin hummed with a smile.

There were fireworks that exploded in the sky, showering orange and yellow over the 'Trost', followed by the loud blaring of the ship's foghorn. Next, quiet, rocketing noises started, as small sleek silver planes started jetting down the Trost’s short runway.

Eren and Armin both gripped the railing, as they watched the lead plane speed faster and faster towards the end, hit the edge of the runway, and shoot up into the sky, followed closely by the four planes behind it. The crowd exploded in applause and cheers, watching the jets shoot across the evening sky in planned twists and formations, leaving jet trails in their wake, cutting unimaginably close to each other before spinning away in fast spirals. They dove down, speeding over the top of the water, their perfect reflections directly underneath them. It was an amazing show.

The show went on for awhile, the low flying planes captivating the audience with their skills. For the grand finale, the planes lined back up in formation, the lead plane in front, with two on either side, making a "V" formation.  
In formation, the "V" shot straight up high in the sky over the bay, and as if on cue, men dressed proudly in bright white flight suits ejected from each jet. The five men fell down toward the bay, then at the same time, popped parachutes, navy blue and white, the word "Navy" emblazoned on them in yellow script. The crowd cheered as the men, proudly flying on their Navy parachutes, steered themselves towards dry ground, landing various places among the vast crowd throughout the downtown area. The planes, still flown by the primary pilot, pocketed themselves back in the aircraft carrier, ending the amazing show.

“That was so awesome!” Armin said with a grin, and Eren agreed.

“It was, I’m glad we watched it. So, what do you want to do now?"

"Want to look around for awhile?"

They strolled the downtown area, checking out different booths set up, stopping for a while to listen to a street musician playing a bucket as a drum. The ships were open for touring, so they went and looked around, both a little queasy at the thought of spending months on end locked up inside a floating metal box.

The Rockettes were putting on a large show in a main city square, so they ventured down further, and watched at the strangely suspicious 36 identical women dancing in a line. They were like something out of a different time period that never really got moved on to the present day. The identical women in matching outfits doing the exact same dance moves almost seemed a bit alien, like it was something out of the '50s that went along side Jazz clubs and the can-can.

It was getting darker, and the square was beginning to clear out, people going their separate ways to visit nightclubs and bars for a long night of drinking and trying to snag a sailor before Fleet Week was over.

Then it happened.

“You little bitch! Where have you been?” The voice was more than recognizable. Jean.

Eren and Armin looked over their shoulders and immediately saw him. Jean was hard to miss in a crowd. He was tall and handsome, with his two tone hair and long, lean muscles. He was at least 6 inches taller than his ex, Armin, broader in the shoulders, and with his larger-than-life personality, he dwarfed Armin in every measurable way. Armin’s eyes went wide, and he instinctively stepped behind Eren as they both quickly swiveled to face him. Armin's fight or flight wanted to kick in, but instead, he just froze, terrified.

Jean was dressed in a white long sleeved naval uniform, a cautious looking man behind him, who looked exactly the opposite of Jean, kind, with dark hair and a band of freckles over his nose.  

“I was talking to you, you little slut!” He yelled again, the obscene phrase obviously directed at Armin, who was now curled in on himself, hiding behind his friend like a little kid hiding from a proverbial monster. “I see you there, Armin, hiding behind my cousin like the bitch-coward you are.”

“Jean.” Eren said calmly, as Jean stalked angrily toward the two across the field, the kind looking man dressed in street clothes trailing behind him. “I didn’t know you were joining the Navy.”

“Maybe because I didn’t fucking tell you, you pussy. Step away from my boyfriend. Armin and I have a lot of catching up to do.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“So what, is this cumslut feeding off of you now? He would be. He’s such a hungry little whore I bet he doesn’t care who’s inside him. Cheating little bitch.” Jean directed his conversation from Eren to Armin. “I don’t remember ever telling you that I was done with you. You don’t just leave me. Not until I say so. Or maybe you like playing hard to get? You always did like playing games with me, you worthless cockslut.”

Armin gaped at the profane words freely flowing out of Jean’s mouth.

“Jean,” Another softer voice came from the freckled man standing behind him, as he reached out to put his hand on Jean’s shoulder. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I think you’re making everyone a little uncomfortable.”

“Shut the fuck up, Marco.” He said, putting his hand on Marco’s face, pushing him away roughly. Jean was immediately next to the two now, Marco farther behind him, trying to decide how to handle the situation. Jean reached out for Armin’s shirt, but Eren slapped his hand away, holding his arm out, blocking any reach of his friend.

“You need to walk away, Jean.” Eren’s calm demeanor was completely out of character for him, but the last thing he wanted to do was get in a fight and leave Armin alone. He wasn’t sure he could beat Jean at a fight at this stage in his life. Maybe when they were younger, but Jean was bigger than he was now, and looked like he had a bit of military training under his belt.

Jean growled, a low sound in the back of his throat. “Never. You have something of mine." He said, pointing at Armin. "He needs to remember who he belongs to. I’ll carve my name into his flesh. He won’t forget. Not again.”

A small whimper left Armin's lips and Eren stepped closer to him, feeling his warmth against his back. “You’ll never touch Armin again.”

Jean let out a short laugh. "Really? Is that so. Who's going to stop me, you?"

Fire raced through Eren's body, his nose crinkling in an almost animalistic snarl. He was finding it harder to contain his anger. His voice dropped an octave. “Come near us, and I swear I’ll kill you where you stand.”

Jean laughed. “Try it, Eren. I’d love to see that. Do you love his hole so much you want to fight me for him? How’s about I share him with you? He’s such a slutty boy I bet he could take us both at the same time without any help. Do you want to try right now?” He stared Armin down, a sneer on his face.

Eren clenched his jaw, trying to figure out the best course of action. He was about to snap, he couldn’t keep a grapple on his anger much longer.

Jean was shifting his steps, gearing up for a hit. He sidestepped, getting a better view of Armin, and aimed a punch right for the blonde's kidney. Eren swiveled, wrapped his arms around his friend, taking the hit in the back. It knocked the wind out of him as he was propelled forward into Armin and they both tumbled down onto the grassy park lawn.

“Jean, stop!” Marco yelled, reaching out and grabbing onto Jean’s uniform.

“I said fuck off, Marco.” Jean turned, balling his fist and driving it hard into Marco's stomach, watching him fold over then fall to his knees on the ground. “I’ll deal with you later.”

While Jean’s back was turned, Eren grabbed Armin’s hand, begging for air to fill his lungs up again as he dragged him off the ground onto his feet and out of the park.

“Let’s get out of here.” Eren gasped, running and yanking Armin with him, across the busy street where a crowd had gathered to watch the beginnings of the fight. Eren ran down a busy city block or two, weaving in and out of the stopped traffic and avoiding groups of people talking and laughing on the sidewalk. He knew exactly where he was headed. The two ended up in front of an enormous three story building, all black with no windows. Above the double doors, guarded by two bouncers and covered by a black awning, the word 'Persona' was written in blue cursive.

It looked to be an expensive club, and a short line of well dressed men was outside the door, curling around the side of the building. Eren pushed through to the front of the line, showed a card to the bouncer, who squinted at it, looked at Eren, and then nodded, opening the door for them. They hurried through, despite the protest of the men behind them.  
They were panting once they entered the club, definitely seeming out of place, instead of ready to party they were just escaping a fight, their hair messed from running, Armin a little shell shocked from the encounter with Jean.

They made their way to the well lighted bathroom, which was ornately decorated in shades of gold and black. The two cleaned up, washing their faces and straightening out their clothes, trying to look presentable for the club scene.

“You alright?” Eren asked Armin, watching his reflection in the mirror and expertly helping him retie his thin yellow ponytail.

“Yeah, thanks for standing up for me. That was just unexpected, I guess.” He said softly.

“Sorry you had to deal with that. What an asshole.”

“Yeah, why did I stay with him for five years?”

“Because you’re a good person. Too good. It's my fault. I never should have introduced you. It was all my fault.” Eren clenched his teeth as he thought about it. Armin knew he had beat himself up in the past over the same thought.

“You didn’t know. How would you have known he was like that? People aren’t always what they seem. He wasn’t always like that. Things just changed, little by little between us. Things you wouldn’t even notice until you look back and you’re not the same people anymore.” Armin said thoughtfully. “Anyway. It's not your fault, really.”

“Thanks, Min.”

Armin’s eyebrows crinkled. “How did you get us in here so fast? Pretty sure this place is really expensive. Isn’t this Persona, the club where you’re supposed to be someone else or you’re not allowed to use your real name or something?”

“Yeah it is. And everything is super expensive so don't break anything."

" _You_ don't break anything. Why did they just let us in?"

"Because I get in free.”

“What? What is this, like are you part of a secret gentlemen's society or something? Are you rich now?”

“I’ll show you. But, don’t tell my mom, and I never wanted you to see this.”

Instantly, Armin was intrigued. “Something you didn’t want me to see? But why?” Armin asked, as he followed Eren out of the bathroom back onto the main floor.

Looking around for the first time, they inspected the club. It appeared to have three stories, the first one, where they stood, had a long, transparent glass bar with blue lights illuminating it, and matching shelves behind it, holding all shapes and sizes of liquor bottles. A few handsome bartenders worked behind the large glass bar, dressed in tuxedos.  
A large, polished dance floor spread across the main surface of the first floor, and suspended high above the dance floor were two empty dancing cages and an array of different club lights.

Adjacent from the bar were a few tables, with men sitting and chatting, and a small staircase which went up to the second floor. Part of the second floor could be seen from the first, a large balcony which swept around, men looking over inspecting the guests down on the first level. There was a second, hidden bar on the third level, and both the second and third level had bedrooms available for play, some private, some with windows for voyeurs, and some with special equipment and furniture for people with special tastes. It was a plethora of everything, and being that there were only men there, Armin was sure it was a strictly gay club.

It was then that he saw it, and he almost tripped over himself, despite the fact that he as standing still. Eren covered his face in embarrassment, though Armin wasn’t sure exactly why, maybe it was just the basic principle of it all.

“I didn’t want you to see it because it’s so big.” Eren mumbled.

The ceiling of the first floor of the club was vaulted, nearly 30 feet high, and on the wall across from the tall bar were three enormous black and white paneled pictures.

The one on the far left was the very recognizable model, Mike Zacharias. He was tall, 6’5”, with a perfectly proportioned, toned body, enormous pectorals and a well defined six pack. The large, at least 20 foot tall panel was of him staring directly into the camera, shirtless, his pants unbuttoned and pulled down low on his hips, showcasing his defined v-lines and happy trail, plunging straight down, to where his pants rode teasingly low, unashamedly showing just the top of well kept pubic hair.  
He had a mess of tousled, flaxen hair, and his mustache and beard were rough, styled in an almost careless fashion, making Armin weak at the knees. His well defined, long muscled arms were out to the side, as if he was bracing himself on walls of some sort.

The far right panel made Armin stop in his tracks. It was someone’s back full to the camera, although the picture was black and white, it was evident the model's skin tone was much darker than Mike's. The model's back was completely smooth and soft, and his pants rode low and open in the front, barely clinging to his hips. Two inches of toned butt and a cute tight butt crack showed teasingly, peeking out of his pants from below two perfectly formed back dimples. His hands were cuffed and above him, as if secured to a wall in front of him, and a shaggy head of brunette hair was hanging forward between his shoulder blades. His face was obscured, but Armin could immediately tell it was Eren.

It was the middle panel, however, that made Armin’s mouth drop open.

“Min…” Eren started to say, but Armin held his finger up, still looking at the picture. He had never seen Eren look like that before, and he hated to admit that he was getting half hard looking at a picture of his roommate.

Mike stood behind Eren, nearly a head taller than him, his milky white skin making Eren's sunkissed tone look much darker, and making Eren look small and vulnerable. They were both shirtless, Eren’s back pressed against Mike chest tightly, his bound hands reaching behind him, looping around the back of Mike’s neck, leaving his whole body exposed. One of Mike’s enormous hands wrapped around the slender column of Eren’s neck, a couple fingers reached up on his chin and lips, forcing his head to turn, making Eren meet Mike’s sultry stare. Mike’s other enormous hand had snaked down Eren’s chest, completely disappearing into the front of his pants, which were riding so low on his hips they looked seconds away from losing their grip on his thin hips and dropping to the ground, leaving him naked in Mike’s strong embrace. Eren’s mouth was partially open, his eyes a little teary and his cheeks flushed, as if he had already been completely wrecked by Mike but was still completely at his mercy.

It was the most sensual thing Armin had probably ever seen, and it was a picture of Eren. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it, but a blush ran over his face immediately, and the only word that he was able to squeak out was “Guh.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to see it, I’m so embarrassed.” Eren said, covering his face.

“No, Eren, It's super hot, oh my god.” Armin breathed, unable to tear his eyes away. “Did you and Mike...” He looked at Mike’s hand in Eren’s pants.

“No, Mike’s straight, I think. And someone told me he's engaged. But he has enormous hands that are very warm. I didn’t mind his hand in my pants. Not one bit.” Eren smiled mischievously.

“This is your back right?” Armin said, nodding toward the second picture. “What happened to your tattoo?”

“Airbrush. They said it didn’t have the illusion of innocence they were going for or something like that.”

“Hmm.”

They both stared at the pictures again, amazed at seeing Eren 20 feet tall. The trance was broken, however, when there was a ruckus, a shatter of glass and multiple yells of expletives.

Jean had appeared again, somehow, pushing through the crowd into the club. His eyes met with Eren’s across the room. Eren wasn’t sure how he crossed the room so quickly, but suddenly he was nearly on top of him. An angry blow to the face sent Eren slamming into the opposite wall, hitting his head hard on the drywall. Eren out of his way, Armin received a knee to the stomach, which dropped him to the floor immediately, knocking the wind out of him. Jean followed up with a hard steel-toed kick to the ribs, causing Armin to double over, holding his side. There was shouting and the club erupted in chaos as Jean delivered a second kick to Armin’s ribs.  
Eren rubbed his cheek, trying to shake off the dizziness caused by the heavy blow Jean had dealt him, wanting to help his friend but being unable to see straight. Two men rushed forward, trying to pull Jean away from Armin, but he pushed them away, throwing one to the ground, punching the other violently in the throat. After dealing with them, he turned his attention back to Armin, who had begun to scoot away. Jean grabbed Armin by the shirt, yanked him up to his feet, then wrapped both hands around his throat and slammed him down onto the ground again, climbing on top and straddling him while he squeezed his throat.

“How’s this, Armin, just like old times?” He said with a laugh. "This always was your favorite position.”

“Get off me, Jean.” Armin gasped, pulling at Jean’s hands around his throat.

“I don’t think I will, you know. You’ve put me on a crazy wild goose chase tonight. I think you deserve to be punished, what do you think?”

Armin aimed a punch for Jean’s face, but missed, his arms being much shorter than Jean’s, he just swung at the empty air between them. Jean backhanded Armin across the face. “I asked you a question, you bitch. I asked you if you deserved to be punished.”

“Fuck you.” Armin responded shakily, and Jean laughed. “I was kind of hoping you would say that, you know. It was always more fun when you fought like a little pussy bitch. Now everyone can watch while I fuck you right here. You don’t even need lube because you’re such a needy cumslut, isn’t that right? You’re begging for my cock.”

Jean’s one large hand closed tightly around Armin’s small throat, choking him. The other reached down and worked on unbuckling his belt, wrenching the button open and pulling the zipper down. Armin writhed around on the ground, scratching at Jean’s wrist. He was so weak. Jean had always been able to overpower him so easily. It was like the world was frozen in time. No one knew what to do. Eren was somehow incapacitated, somewhere. _'Holy shit. This is happening. I’m going to die today_.' Was the only thought going through Armin’s head.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a gun cocking, and Jean froze, left hand halfway down Armin’s undone pants, he still straddling the smaller man, right hand fully closed around the his small neck. Looking to the side, there was a short man in a military flight suit, with eyes the color of a stormy sky, hair styled in an ink black undercut. He had a military regulation pistol pointed at Jean’s temple.

“Kiersten.” The firm voice came from the man at least a foot shorter than Jean. “Unhand him and stand immediately. Or I swear to god I’ll paint the floor with you.”  
Jean dropped his hands to the side, Armin gasping for air as he hurried to cover himself. Jean stood and faced the smaller man. “Captain.” He growled. The small man looked over his shoulder at two soldiers behind him. “Get him out of here.” He said to them, and they grabbed Jean roughly and dragged him off the floor.

A tall, blonde man, with an enormous body came over to Armin. Armin’s eyes scanned over the man, who looked like a modern day Atlas, dressed in a commander’s outfit: white pants, a black jacket and white belt, with multiple ribbons and stripes. He had his hat tucked under his arm as he knelt beside him. Armin instantly felt safer with him there, he had kind, blue eyes, soft looking golden hair, and arms that he felt like he wanted to crawl into where no one could harm him.

“I can’t begin to express how sorry I am that this was done to you by one of our crew members.” He said softly, turning Armin’s head toward him, looking over the angry red handprints around his throat. Armin was fumbling with pants zipper and belt, trying to compose himself. “Please, let us take you both to the hospital to get looked over.” the handsome blonde said, looking at Eren and Armin. Eren had finally managed to stumble back over to where Armin was and was holding the back of his head, now noticing his skull had made an indent in the wall when he slammed against it.

“No, it’s fine, really.” Armin said, as he started to stand on wobbly legs, the man offering his giant hand as help. “I’m used to it.” He looked at Eren, who gave a thumbs up.

“We’re good.” Eren confirmed said, rubbing the back of his head.

“You're used to it?” The short raven-haired man appeared again, holstering his weapon after helping his colleagues escort Jean out.

“Yeah. He’s my ex, actually. Unfortunately.” Armin muttered. “I’m fine. I just need a few drinks. It's been a rough evening.”

“Please,” The commander said, “They’re on us. Jean was one of ours anyway, it’s the least we can do.”

“He won’t bother you anymore. I promise.” The man in the flight suit added.

They sat down at a small booth, while the man in the commander's uniform went up to order the drinks. He held out his military ID for the bartender. “I’m Commander Erwin Smith, and that's Captain Levi Ackerman, we're both from the 'Trost.' Those kids are with us. Anything they want put it on my tab and we’ll pick it up at the end of the night.”

The bartender nodded, and Erwin ordered drinks.


	4. Raven and Champagne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone! Welcome to chapter four! We've finally seen Erwin and Levi, yay!!  
> Thank you SO much to @jusmems for the creative edits on this. It helped the flow so much!
> 
> I realize there was a couple continuity issues in the earlier chapters regarding when Jean/Armin started dating and the breakup. I had originally written that they broke up 4 years ago, but I decided that this was too far in the past to have much relevance to Armin in present day. I moved the timeline closer together, so that Armin and Jean's breakup was 10 months prior to the beginning of the story (and they dated for 4-5 years.)  
> (This made a timeline error regarding how long Armin and Eren had been living in their apartment together in chapter two.)
> 
> Everything should be cleared up now I think, but if you ever find any errors don't hesitate to let me know! I do all the writing and editing myself so it's easy for me to miss things.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading and on with the show!

“Thanks for helping us out back there.” Eren murmerred, as he held his newly poured drink up on the back of his head to help the ache. “Jean’s a real piece of work.”

“We’re just sorry that we couldn’t do more to help out. I wasn’t aware that he had behavioral issues. Usually that sort of thing is noted in personnel files.” The handsome blonde responded, running his finger around the rim of his Gin and Tonic.

Armin shrugged. “I don't think he's a hazard to most people. He's really smart, and a hard worker. He just has it out for us. Myself, in particular.”

"Did something happen between you two?"

Armin sighed. "Not really. We started dating in college. Everything was fine. It was good, actually, for a long time. He was very kind and gentle with me. But he just started to get...worrisome. Possessive. Worried that I would leave him or someone would take me away. At first it was cute, but then it turned a little creepy, following me, not wanting me to have any other friends, then it just was scary. Like you saw. He started hitting and kicking me, hurting me, saying he needed to punish me for seeing other people and whatnot. Its like he wanted to hold onto me so bad, but he didn't know how."

"Sounds like we should have been watching him more carefully."

"Yeah, probably. He threw him out of a window, so he's not exactly the most stable of a person." Eren said, jerking his head in Armin's direction.

"He threw you out a window?" The ravenette interjected with a concerned face.

"Yeah, the day I told him I was leaving for real. Eren was coming to pick me up and I had my bags packed and everything. I think what actually happened was...he grabbed the coffee table, yeah, and picked it up, and threw it at me. We had these big huge windows in our house, and the coffee table hit me in the side, and I just fell out the window and down from the second story right into the driveway, pretty much just as Eren was coming to pick me up. He rushed me to the hospital, I had a broken jaw and sternum. But I lived to tell. I hadn't seen Jean since then until tonight." He sighed. "Lets talk about something lighter though, yeah?" He picked up his Tequila Sunrise and took a sip.  


"So what should we all call each other?” Eren asked, looking over the three other people at the small booth. They had opted for the small bar on the third floor for a more private setting, the noise from the downstairs dance floor was only a distant bass beat, and the main sound was pleasant piano music and the buzzing of other soft conversation coming from nearby booths.  


"What? Was that like a weird backasswards way of asking our names?" The smaller man with silver eyes asked, looking a little confused.  


"Oh, well, no, we can't use our real names here, so I wondered like what "persona" we all were going to use."  


“Who says we can’t real names?”  


“It's a club rule. Its for liability, mostly. Persona has less likely of a chance to be held responsible for any incidents. It’s more like meeting someone in a dream, so to speak. You can be whoever you want."  


The larger man ran his fingers through his golden hair, his eyes scanning the two younger men on the opposite side of the booth. “How about the first letter of our names?”  


“L?”  


“A.”  


“Mine’s E.”  


“Ah, so is mine, so that won’t work.” The golden haired man sighed.  


“Maybe, just, pick a name?” Eren suggested.  


“Any name?” The man in the flight suit questioned. “That might get confusing. I’ll forget my own name.”  


“We could just go by our ages. So we’d be 26 and 25.” Armin said, motioning to himself and Eren with his drink.  


“No.” The two soldiers answered simultaneously, which brought a small smirk to the younger men’s faces.  


“How about titles?” Armin suggested.  


“Like job titles?” Eren clarified.  


“Sure, why not.” The man in the flight suit shrugged. “I’m Captain, then.”  


“And I’m Commander.” The large blonde said, blue eyes shining proudly.  


“I’m..” Armin cleared his throat. “Line editor."  


“Ooh, sexy.” Eren teased.  


“Oh, can it. Mister Model.”  


"Ours sound dumb. Lets shorten them. We can be...'L' for line, and 'M' for model."  


"Perfect, I'm L, I'm the greatest detective in the world!"  


Captain's eyes scanned Eren’s face. “Ah, M. I thought you looked familiar. You’re in the picture downstairs with Mike. You’re built very well.”  


It was a strangely worded compliment, but Eren blushed slightly anyway. The small, grey eyed man sitting across from him was the opposite of his large companion. Small, with lean, compact muscle, lily-white skin and sharp handsome features, he was unlike anyone Eren had ever seen. He was so handsome, in a terrifying, cold way, he wanted to know more about him.  


“Do you know Mike?” Eren asked curiously, picking up on the informal way he had dropped the other model’s name.  


“Yes, actually we all grew up together.” Commander answered, as Captain was sipping his Whiskey Sour. We all joined The Navy at the same time, but Mike was honorably discharged after his contract was up and he came back here to start his modeling career. We just got reassigned and never left.”  


"Do you like being at sea that much?" Armin asked.  


"It's home to us now, I think. We've been there so long." Commander said, and his grey eyed partner nodded in agreement. "I haven't lived a civilian life in such a long time, I'm not even sure I would know how to do normal things. Go to the grocery store, walk a dog, get a day job."  


“Yeah, and I don't think the modeling path is for us, either.” Captain huffed.  


Eren dropped his chin onto his palm and stared at the ravenette unabashedly. "No, you could definitely be a model." He said in a dreamy tone that made Armin raise one eyebrow.

“But anyway,” Armin turned his attention back to Erwin, “Are you enjoying fleet week?”  


The two soldiers groaned simultaneously.  


“It's the worst.” Captain started.  


“Agreed, I could do without.” Commander agreed.  


“First we have to come in here, for a whole week, and the whole crew lolligags around, then the last day, we spend half of the day pulling our men out from under complete strangers, and chasing floozies off of our ship, then have to get half the crew tested because the shits aren’t smart enough to wear condoms.”  


“And there’s the shows and the meet and greets and speeches and song and dances.”  


"Yeah. Flying is already hard as shit. Its not part of our regular Naval duties to do all sorts of tricks and flips in the air. It’s really not fun, you know.”  


Armin laughed a little. “But the airshow was amazing.”  


“Were you one of the pilots, Captain?” Eren asked, wide-eyed. “Wait, am I allowed to ask that?” Generally the answer would be no, but the two boys across from them were so interested they couldn’t refuse an answer.  


“Yes, I didn’t jump though. I can, but I hate doing it on fleet week. Everyone with all their grabby hands, it’s the worst feeling in the world. I was the main pilot, James basically was the navigator and then did the jump.”  


“Amazing.” Eren breathed, and Armin nodded in agreement.  


Armin’s eyes swivelled to the large blonde. “So what do you do?”  


“I’m a commander.” He said with a teasing smile.  


“So you pilot the ship?” Armin felt dumb asking the question. “Steer the ship? Sail it?"  


"Pilot is fine." The handsome man smiled. "It can get confusing."  


Armin beamed at the attention. "What’s it like?”  


"It’s an amazing feeling. It makes you feel...small. The ocean is vast, and even in such a big, powerful vessel, you realize that you’re really absolutely nothing. Humans think that we have all this power over every little thing, but over nature, we have no power at all.”  


“Wow.” Armin’s eyes lit up.  


“Yes. It’s quite spectacular.” Commander's eyes twinkled.  


“So what do you two do, I mean besides the obvious, model and line editor?” Captain asked, tipping back the rest of his whiskey sour.  


“Well, I do my freelance modeling, and also do freelance work online with graphic design stuff, people will contact me if they need help designing their website logo or some images for their newspaper or something. Little things like that. Most of my time is spent looking for jobs, but I also like to paint.” Eren responded first, tipping back his Vodka Buck.  


“So do you have a degree in graphic design?” Commander inquired.  


“Yes, but it's a pretty saturated market. I originally wanted to be an artist, but I was told there was no money in it, so I took the graphic design route for money, like most people do. I’m not unhappy by any means, but I could have done better. ”  


Captain nodded in understanding. “What about you, L?”  


Eren pinched Armin's, stomach, making him giggle. “What? Oh, L? Is that me?” Armin blinked.  


Eren giggled "Yes, 'L'. What do you like to do?"  


“I enjoy working out, and writing. For work I’m a line editor. I’m basically a human computer, I edit people’s books for spelling and grammar errors, run on sentences, making sure things flow and whatnot.”  


“Do you like it?” Commander questioned, sipping his Gin and Tonic, throwing his arm over the back of the booth behind Captain.  


“It's nice to have a good job and a steady paycheck, so yeah. I like it.”  


“Nope. He hates it.” Captain stated, turning as if to report this fact to Commander matter of factly.  


“Yeah, I hate it. I wanted to be an author but I--” His words trailed off.  


“But fucking Jean happened and made you feel shitty about your entire life.” Eren muttered bitterly. “God, I hate him. What the fuck, L.”  


“What did he do that made you not want to write anymore?” Commander asked.  


“He told me I wasn’t good, nothing special, you know. I know you need to be really special to get noticed and he told me I wasn’t. And he was probably right. I just didn’t want to believe it. Everyone wants to believe they have a chance.”  


“Jean sounds like a real shit.” Captain said, setting his empty Whiskey Sour tumbler down on the table. “Looks to me like he was really possessive and would do anything to keep you under his thumb. I don’t think you should believe any of the things you heard from him.”  


“Yes, maybe you should try again. You’re young, there’s still time. Writing is hard, and takes a lot of work, but is worth it, especially thinking about the people that can enjoy it long after you’re gone.” Commander said with a smile, extending his hand toward Eren. “Same with art. It takes a special person to be a good artist. If you have the skill, don’t keep it with yourself, you should share it. Yeah, you might not make a ton of money, but its better to be happy and have shared the things that make you joyful with others."  


Eren and Armin both nodded, and Commander asked another question. “What types of things do you like to write?”  


“Mysteries. Science fiction, mostly. I like to live vicariously exciting and mysterious lives through my characters.”  


“That is what writing is for, I think.” Commander nodded in response.  


“Do you do a lot of writing?” Armin asked, shifting in his chair and looking at the handsome man across the table from him.  


“Yes, not as much as I used to, but I try. I really enjoy it, for the same reason as you. Living a life you never had imagined before. Writing is like...like painting a picture,” He said, motioning to Eren, “And then watching the character you just painted step out of the frame and greet you.”  


“Oh my god, yes, yes! What a great description!” Armin exclaimed. “Have you ever had a dream about your own character or a world you created? I think that’s the most amazing feeling in the world.”  


Commander nodded. “It certainly is something special. If you want to write, then write. Don’t waste your life not chasing your dream.”  


"Life goes by quicker than you think. It does. If you want something, then grab on and hold it tight, you never know when it might disappear.” Captian added out of the blue.  


Comfortable silence filled the space between them, and the bartender shuffled over at the dark haired man's bidding and brought another round.  


"What do you do for fun, Captain?” Eren asked, hitting his thumb mindlessly on the side of his drink tumbler.  


“I read. Sometimes I play games online. But I prefer tabletop games, or chess.”  


“We like tabletop games too.” Eren motioned to himself and Armin. “We have tons of tabletop games and deck building games, but D&D is our favorite.  


A smirk crossed Commander's face. “Some of our best memories were made getting drunk and playing D&D. Its been a long time though, hasn’t it?” He said, looking at Captain.  


"Yeah, and I'm never playing with you again. You and your shitty wizard with his 6 health points. All you ever did was almost die, and lose your spellbook and become absofuckinglutely useless."  


Eren and Armin’s eyes sparkled. “What? I can’t believe you guys played Dungeons and Dragons!” Armin exclaimed.  


“Why, because we aren’t nerds wearing capes? Now you’re just stereotyping.” Captain responded flatly.  


“Oh, yeah.” Eren laughed awkwardly. “We haven’t played in a long time either. We don’t have many friends to play with now that we’re getting older. Everyone kind of has their own lives.  


“So how long have you two known each other?” Commander inquired.  


“Since third grade? I think?” Eren and Armin looked at each other to confirm their story.  


“Yeah, that’s right. Eren used to always start fights and stuff, he would come home every day with all these bruises and cuts, he was like a little ball of anger. I was a good kid who didn’t like conflict so I was always trying to break up the fights. Eventually we became friends.”  


Captain laughed a little. “Do you still get in fights?”  


"Not like I used to, I kind of grew out of it after college. One too many punches to the face at frat parties. I realized I wasn’t always going to be the biggest guy in the room and their was probably better ways to solve problems. Some things really get me going, anything that has to do with Armin, or my sister, but she’s married now so I don’t have to worry about her really anymore.”  


Armin returned the question. "How about you two? How long have you all known each other? You said that you both and Mike knew each other since you were younger.”  
“Yes, we had a group of friends that all went to the same high school. Captain was a couple years younger than us, but we all played on the same lacrosse team. Mike and I graduated and were actually both two years into college, Mike in Engineering, myself going for a Literature degree, when the Northern Conflict occurred, We all enlisted immediately.  


Upon hearing “Northern Conflict”, Armin’s hand shot sideways, already seeing the glass slipping out from between Eren’s fingers. He caught it, skillfully, Vodka mix sloshing around his hand but not spilling on the table or on Eren.  


"Oh my shit, nice catch.” Captain commented, the shot a look sideways to the handsome commander. “Northern Conflict? Nice, way to date us, look at their faces!”  


It was true, Eren and Armin’s mouth’s were partially open now looking at them men across the table, and Eren trying to lick the drink off of Armin’s fingers one by one, very grateful Armin had caught the tumbler he had dropped as if reading his mind. The Northern Conflict was an incident that had happened when their parents were younger. Counting backwards, that would put the Commander about 41 years old, and the Captain about 39.  


“Sorry, I’m sorry. Sorry.” Eren apologized profusely.  


“I’m sorry for the reaction.” Armin apologized. “It has nothing to do with you, really. We actually lost both of our fathers in the Northern Conflict. It was strange to hear about something we hadn’t talked about in so long.”  


“I am very sorry for your losses.” Commander said, reaching across the table and gently resting his hand on top of Armin’s. The large hand covered his completely, and was warm and gentle.  


“What branch were they in?” Captain inquired.  


“Marines. They were in a special team deep inside, working to find the base and take out the main leader. It didn’t work. There was a mole. The whole team ended up going missing for months. Then they found them. Well--parts.” Eren voice was a low hiss as Armin reached his other hand over to squeeze his arm. “Let's not talk about this anymore.” He said softly, and Eren nodded. They both downed the rest of their drinks.  


“I want to dance.” Armin said. “Do you want to come? Come with me I mean.” He asked, turning to Eren, with a half smile.  


Eren shrugged. “I don’t really want to go downstairs because of my ginormous face on the wall, but sure.” He looked across the booth. “Do you guys want to come with us?”  


“Well, Captain here is well on his way to being drunk, and I'm afraid neither of us are very good dancers.” Commander said as the small Captain next to him finished off his second Whiskey Sour.  


“If you change your mind, you know where to find us.” Eren said, as he followed Armin, who had already disappeared down the stairs.  


“Did you see when that brat was licking the vodka off his friends fingers one by one? I’m still hard. Do you think he was doing that on purpose?” Captain growled.  


Commander chuckled and hummed. “Hmm, I don’t think so, I think we just stumbled into the right bar. If we stay here any longer I’m afraid…”  


“Just afraid in general, or did that sentence have an ending to it?” Captain asked, holding up his empty glass and motioning for the bartender.  


“Afraid someone’s going to end up regretting their evening.”  


“Who would that be?”  


"Well, you, if you don’t stop drinking. Just coffee for my friend." The blonde said, flashing a million dollar smile as the bartender appeared by the table.  
Captain leaned around him. “Irish coffee. Fuck off, Erwin.”  


“Are you nervous, Levi? I rarely see you drink so much.” He smirked.  


“I’m not good with words. All I know is I feel something when I look at that brat. Something that I haven’t felt since...a really long time.”  


“Watch your step. We have to cast off in 12 hours.”  


“YOU watch your step. I saw you sizing up that blonde like you wanted to put him in your pocket and take him home with us.”  


“L. And M. What do you think their real names are? I know they’d tell us if we asked.” The blonde's brows knitted together. “I don’t know. L, he...he just seems so small. And sad, in a way. I just want to have him in my lap. He’s like a little angel. I want to show him there are people in the world that will treat him right. That he deserves it.”  


It was quiet for awhile between them.  


“We should go downstairs. Before someone sweeps them away.” The ravenette said.  


“Agreed.”

\--

The dance floor was crowded, and the beat was loud. Eren was glad it was mostly dark downstairs, only the dim lights illuminating the dance floor, which shielded him from being recognized.  
He and Armin were best friends, but had never been any type of intimate. This was the closest they had ever been, and given the circumstances, he was okay with it. Armin was right. It had been a rough evening. First Jean, then the talk of the Northern Conflict, which neither of them had brought up in years.  


“What are we still doing here, Eren.” Armin’s voice vibrated into Eren’s neck, his head right next to his ear as they danced face to face, their arms locked in what looked like something from a middle school dance.  


“Do you want to go home?” Eren asked, tilting his eyes down to look in Armin’s.  


“We’re not doing anything. It’s not like these guys are interested in us, if we left now they wouldn’t even notice. They just bought us drinks since Jean made a scene. It was like damage control. They don't want us to sue them or make one of those big scenes on TV about what happened during blah blah blah. You know?”  


Eren sighed. "Yeah, I know. Does your body hurt from where Jean hit you earlier?” Eren asked, running his hand down Armin’s side and seeing him wince.  


Armin gingerly pulled his shirt up, showing a very evident, ugly purple bruise forming up his side. “Yeah, there’s some broken ribs for sure. Nothing he hasn’t done before though. The doctor’s can’t do anything about them. I’ll just wrap them when I get home and won’t be able to sleep on that side for awhile.”  


“Fuck, Armin. I’m so sorry. You always seem to get the short end of the stick.” Eren whispered.  


“Its fine. Really It is my fault, you know.”  


“Don’t say that. Don’t you fucking say those lies that Jean taught you. Never again, okay?” Eren gazed teal eyes into blue. “I mean it, Armin. You deserve so much more.” He grabbed Armin’s hand. "I had fun with you tonight. Despite the whole, you know, getting beaten up and talking about our dads and seeing my super exposed picture in this gay bar. Really. I enjoyed that we got to go out and do stuff together. It was fun. We should do it more often." Eren smiled.  


"I had fun too. Except for the broken ribs, getting called obscene names in front of the whole city, and popping a boner seeing my best friend getting groped by a super hot, straight model." They both chuckled at the sentence, and Eren leaned down, bumping his head into Armin's.  


"That Captain is super hot." Eren whispered in Armin's ear.  


"The Commander is hotter." Armin whispered back. "Those big huge shoulders and blue eyes. Oh my god."  


Eren laughed. "Maybe we'll snag them in the next life, yeah? I'll get an Uber, you settle the tab."  


Armin nodded, and while Eren found a comfortable place over near the end of the long glass bar, tapping on the Uber app, he went over to the bartender. “I need to settle the tab for Eren and I.” He said.  


“I’m sorry, but the man you were with said everything you needed was on him tonight.”

\--

The two handsome soldiers hurried down the stairs from the top bar to the main floor. The room was dark, but Armin was easy to spot, standing by the bar, looking frustrated as he argued with the bartender. Eren was by the entrance.  


“Are they leaving?” Commander asked, as he looked at the two, who had said they were coming downstairs to dance, but were obviously not dancing.  


“They might be trying. They’re not going anywhere.” Captain answered, as he crossed the floor toward Eren.  


Eren was facing toward the door, and felt a cold hand on his waist. Turning, he found the beautiful, silver eyed man behind him.  


“Are you leaving?” He asked, not moving his hand from Eren’s waist. The hand felt over-sensitive to Eren, making his heart jump in his chest. Instinctively, Eren moved his hand to cover it, the contact with Captian's body making his heart stutter.  


“Yeah.” Was all he could reply. "We thought now would be a good time."  


“Why? Was it something we said? If it was about the Northern Conflict, I’m so sorry. I wish I would have known it was a sensitive issue, we would have never brought it up.”  


“No, it's not that, that’s fine. It happened a long time ago.”  


“Was it because we’re old? I told I’m in great shape for my age.”  


"What? No, you're not old. Not really. Age is just a number, anyway."  


Eren was confused at where this conversation was going. What was he grasping for, here?  


"We just don’t want to waste anymore of your guys’s time, we know that you don’t particularly enjoy fleet week, and that tomorrow is going to be a busy day for you. We really appreciate you doing damage control with the whole Jean thing but you don’t have to worry about us suing you or whatever you were afraid of. We’re just guys. Not looking to cause you any trouble so we'll get out of your hair." Eren said with a polite smile.  


Eren’s phone dinged. “Uber's here."  


Armin was walking towards Eren, Commander trailing after him. It looked like they had just had a similar conversation, except probably more tactfully, since Armin had a way with words.  


Eren was heading to the door when Captain grabbed his hand, pulling him back against him, looping an arm around his waist. It was a strange look, since the older man was much shorter than him, but given his fierce, dark look, it worked.  


“Please, don’t leave. Stay. Just a little while longer.” Captain whispered.  


Commander effortlessly scooped Armin’s legs out from under him, picking him up and setting him on the bar. They were the same height then, and he tilted his chin so they were eye to eye. A blush covered Armin’s face, looking at the handsome man in his complete black and white decorated uniform. He looked at him for just a minute, then pressed his forehead against Armin’s.  


“Please. I want you to stay.” Erwin’s lips surged forward, meeting Armin’s in a sweet, short kiss, that tasted like a mix of Armin’s sweet orange and Erwin’s bitter gin.  


“Please. Stay.” He whispered again, cobalt meeting crystal blue eyes after the kiss, a rush flowing through Armin’s body, taking his breath away.  


“Okay.”  


\--

The rest of the night went by like a blur. There was more drinking, and dancing, Armin tucked into Commander on the dance floor, his white button up shirt was completely unbuttoned, Armin exploring his enormous bare chest with his mouth and hands, his uniform jacket and hat thrown over a nearby chair.  


Eren was sitting legs open on a chair while Captain straddled his lap, grinding and dancing on him while Eren mouthed at his throat and pawed at his small butt over his navy-colored flightsuit.  


It was Eren who suggested it first. “Maybe we should get a room upstairs?”  
It was obvious that the night was turning that direction but to actually have it suggested was the thing no one had wanted to try. Captain was disgusted at the notion. “People have been fucking in those rooms all night. Who knows if they have changed the sheets!”  


“Right, yeah, right. Sorry. Sorry.” Eren mumbled awkwardly.  


"There’s a nice hotel a block down from here, if that’s alright?” Commander suggested  
Armin bit his lip, not wanting to seem too excited as he nodded. When he looked at Eren and Captain they all agreed on the idea. 

\--


	5. So It's Basically a Hit And Run But No One Has Insurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Don't tell my mom, and I never wanted to show you this." -Eren, Chapter 3, Also me, writing this just now.
> 
> Here's the smutty hotel room scene we're been waiting for! This is my first smut scene so I hope it meets the smut standards, whatever those may be. 
> 
> Thank you so much to @jusmems for the editing advice on this, it means so much to me to have your comments and likes! 
> 
> It was brought up in chapter 4, but since meeting, the characters do not know each other's names.  
> That's why Erwin and Levi are being dialogue tagged as Captain and Commander.  
> I decided to leave Eren and Armin as their names in the dialogue tags since for the most part we are following the story from their point of view.  
> Hope that makes sense but sorry if this is confusing.

The hotel room was large, with a vaulted ceiling and walls painted a relaxing shade of burgundy.  A king-size sleigh bed was pushed up against the right wall, covered with white sheets and a wine colored duvet and pillows. A plush white couch sat not far from the end of the long bed, and various pieces of cherry wood furniture were set around the room. A thick, white shag rug covered the floor, and floor to ceiling windows along the far wall captured the night view of the city far below.

As soon as the four entered the room, Eren grabbed Captain by his flight suit, pulled him over to the bed and threw him on it. Captain bounced on the plush bed, scooting more to the middle of it and pushing the numerous pillows off onto the floor, while Eren yanked lube and condoms he had picked up at the bar out of his back pocket, throwing them onto the bed. 

“Wow.” Captain let out a throaty laugh, looking at Eren holding the supplies. “You’re ready to go.”  
One side of Eren’s mouth lifted up in a smirk. “You’re one to talk.” He replied, as he climbed onto the bed, straddling the smaller man, reaching down and palming his erection through his flight suit. The captain let out a soft moan from the pressure, and Eren took it as a sign to start undressing him. He began to quickly tear the flight suit off the smaller man, while the soldier easily undid the large buttons on on Eren’s shirt, then pulled it off over his head, ruffling his chestnut hair.

Hungry silver eyes met Eren’s mediterranean orbs. Eren looked confident, but was panting, breathy, so turned on as he stripped the incredibly handsome older man on the bed.  


“I was so jealous the second I saw Mike holding you in that picture. He doesn’t deserve you.” Captain growled. It was a strange thing to hear him say, almost a possessive remark in a way, and it made Eren shudder at the thought. He wanted this man. So bad. He wrenched off Captain's boots then peeled off his one piece jumpsuit, leaving him in just a black undershirt and tight black boxers. 

“And you think you deserve me, flyboy?” Eren taunted, as the ravenette rolled him over and straddled him, yanking off his shoes, pants and socks, then his own black tank top, leaving them both in only their boxers.  


“I’ll show you I deserve to have you. I’ll make your body only want me.” He snarled, his nose crinkling up in a way that sent a chill through Eren’s body. He was already hard, but it made him want Captain even more. 

He grabbed the man's small butt in his hands and squeezed, looking over the soldier's toned build. He had a visible six pack, and lean muscle that showed on his arms, legs and shoulders, flexing as he moved. 

“Aah, Your body is amazing, Captain. I can’t wait to be inside you.” He yanked Captain's body down against his chest, and dug his teeth the swan-like column of his neck, so hard he almost drew blood, making the man let out a low, guttural moan. “I’ll mark you as my own. You’ll never feel right with anyone inside you other than me.” He slid his lips down from the man's neck to his shoulder, then held Captain tight against him, rocking their hips together, feeling the hardness of their erections gyrating together, even through their boxers, making them both groan. 

Captain's moan turned into a small laugh. "Aah ha. You're about 15 years too early if you think you can top me, brat."  


"Really? Then I must be a fucking time traveler." Eren replied, a smirk evident in his voice, "Because I'm going to fuck you into the matress tonight." He held Captain against him while his tongue swept around the shell of his ear.

"Is that so, aah...do you even...do you even know how?" the ravenette stuttered, as Eren sat up just a little to give him better reach of Captain's body, leaving kiss marks across his shoulders while he ran his fingers down his stomach, running them along his sensitive obliques. His mouth moved to Captain's chest, as he took one nipple in his mouth, tongue playing with it, while he twisted the other in his hand, then switched, until they were both dripping with saliva. Eren could feel Captain's member twitching against him through the thin fabric. 

"You're about to find out." Eren whispered, teeth biting hard into one nipple while he twisted the other, pain shooting through Captain's body. 

“Fuck, yes.” the dark-haired man moaned, reaching around Eren’s large shoulders, tangling one hand in his hair, the other scratching hard across his back, sending a firey sensation of pain and pleasure down Eren's spine.

“Aah, mm.” the taller man laughed. “So you like it like that?” He asked, leaning forward, taking Captain's bottom lip in his teeth and biting it, while he slid his hands up his back, grabbing the dark undercut and twisting it in his fingers, pulling it. 

“Ah, god, yes, like that.” the grey eyed man hissed, his eyes sliding closed, feeling the sensation of thousands of pinpricks of pain and pleasure shooting through his body as Eren tugged his hair from the roots. "Like that."

“Good.” the younger man smiled, as he rolled over, tossing Captain down on the bed underneath him, and yanking off their boxers. “Let me know if I’m being too rough. I mean it.” He whispered, biting the inside of his thighs, kissing his ankles and running his hands up the outside of Captains legs, before picking up a pulling open a package of lubricant. He dripped some on his finger and between the small man's thighs, and carefully gauging the smaller man's reaction, began teasing Captain's hole, slipping the first finger in. 

Commander and Armin were taking things slower. The blue-eyed soldier could tell now, having the smaller blonde underneath him on the couch, that Armin's movements were stiff, he was definitely hurting on the side where he had been kicked earlier. He didn’t want to make he feel any more pain. They were gently kissing, deepening each kiss slowly. Commander knew that the young blonde wasn't a child by any means, but somehow because of the age difference, he felt like he should wait to take his cues from him in order to not make the situation uncomfortable.  


Their lips moved against one another slowly, Armin's small lips locking onto the elder's top, giving Commander permission to take his bottom lip in his mouth. Commander obliged, gently sucking on the small bottom lip, careful not to bite, his hand slowly slipping up Armin's shirt, feeling his chest, splaying his fingers and feeling his fine muscle. His body was perfect. Lean, fit, his skin soft and smooth. Armin's tongue gently slid along the soldier's lip, shyly asking for more. Commander was more than willing to give in. His other large hand slid up into Armin's hair as he opened his mouth, allowing Armin's tongue to meet his. They moved their heads so their mouths slotted together better, and they tangled their tongues more aggressively, exploring the taste of gin and tequila on each other's breath. Armin let out a little moan into the kiss, and Commander could feel his small hands unbuttoning his white military shirt. Armin struggled with the last button, but finally fluttered the large shirt open, his small hands moving down to Commander's pants, making the blonde soldier shutter at the thought of having this man kissing him so softly underneath him. He seemed so small and fragile.  


Armin's hands slowly moved back up the larger man's chest, seeming so petite in comparison. His fingers roamed around the expanse of muscle, his hands playing with the soldier's nipples, making the Commander issue a similar moan into Armin's mouth. Armin dipped his head back in ecstasy, the Commander still chasing the kiss, sucking on Armin's bottom lip, then kissing down his neck as he pulled out the small man's ponytail, slipping the plain black elastic on his own wrist, and running his fingers through the shoulder length golden waves.  


“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered to the man underneath him, making Armin blush. 

Armin had peeled off Commander's shirt, and his pants were unbuttoned, showing his perfectly sculpted chest and pectoral muscles and long, impressive half hard length. They kicked their shoes and socks off, and Commander was finally able to get Armin to remove his shirt. It exposed the widening bruise on the side, and Commander couldn’t help but pull back in fear.

“Oh my god.” He said, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, even causing Eren, who was two fingers inside of his partner, and Captain, who had two fingers inside of him, to turn and look.

“Is everything okay?” Eren asked, not pulling his fingers out of Captain.

“Yeah, just this bruise…”

Armin covered it with his arms. “I told you, I’m fine. I’m not made of glass.” 

“We know you’re not made of glass.” Commander ran the pad of his thumb over Armin’s lips. “I just don’t want to hurt you.”

“It's fine, I’m used to getting hurt. It’s really alright.”

“Just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean it’s okay.” Commander tangled his fingers gently in Armin’s thin hair, letting the champagne strands slide through his large fingers softly. He leaned forward to kiss Armin's neck. “You don’t deserve to ever be hurt by anyone.”

Armin gave a soft smile, then guided the Commander's hands to his hips. “I want this. Please.” 

“Tell me if I’m hurting you, at all. I’ll stop right away.” 

Armin nodded.

The larger man slipped his own pants and underwear off, then Armin’s pants, and Armin’s jaw dropped when he saw the full size of Erwin’s cock. It was at least eleven inches long, curving up and laying between fit v-lines. It was thick, cut, with well kept blonde hair at the base. Armin wasn’t even sure his body was physically long enough to take the whole thing in. 

The commander realized there wasn’t enough room on the couch for them to prepare, so he grabbed Armin gently around knees, lifting him up and depositing him on the other side of the bed, across from Eren and the smaller dark haired soldier, crawling up on the bed behind him. Eren had finished preparing his partner and was rolling a condom on his own member, It was shorter than Commander's by about two inches, but about the same in girth. Captain was laying on the bed, fisting and unfisting his hands in the duvet as he looked a little nervous.  


Eren leaned down and kissed Captain on the lips. "Don't be afraid. I'll stop if you need me to. Just say the word." He cradled Captain in his arms as he lined himself up with his hole and began to insert himself. He hadn't looked much bigger in stature than the soldier when they had been introduced, but perhaps it was because of Captain's icy personality. Now, with Eren cradling him in his long arms sliding into him, the soldier looked very petite, even smaller than Armin.  
"Oh, god, mmm, yes.” He keened, as Eren slid into him gently. Despite their rough foreplay, it was evident that Eren didn't want to hurt him. Lube dripped down the back of his thighs as Eren pressed into him, whispering something unintelligible in his ear. He slipped all the way in and held, Captain wrapping his arms around Eren’s neck, tangling his small fingers in Eren's chocolate locks. His legs gripped tight around Eren's waist. Once Captain nodded, Eren pulled nearly all the way out, then moved back in slowly, allowing the smaller man to get used to his size. After the first few initial movements, it got rough. Eren pulling all the way out, snapping his hips, slamming back in. Captains nails tore across Eren’s shoulderblades, maiming the dreamcatcher tattoo on his back, Levi's pleasured pants filling the room. 

“God.” Armin whispered, watching their rough pace as he positioned himself on all fours. Commander gently worked off Armin’s underwear, sliding them over his then hips and knees, and letting them drop to the floor, letting loose his average size cock. It wasn’t small, but even compared to Levi’s it was undersized. The larger man ran his hands down Armin’s back, gently touching his legs and running his fingers over the globes of his round ass.

“You’re so beautiful. You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” He whispered, kissing up Armin’s back gently. “Tell me if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”  
He licked the back of Armin’s neck, gently reaching around the front and touching Armin’s nipples and flat, toned stomach, ghosting over his bruised side as to not hurt him. He licked down his back, gently nipping at his hips, where there was a little extra skin to bite at, but not biting enough to hurt. He scooted a little closer, then wrapped one hand around Armin’s waist, running his large fingers in a feather light tough over Armin's already hard member. He lifted two fingers to the tip, massaging it and driving Armin crazy, gathering up the pearly precum that was already dripping onto the duvet, making Armin gasp at the sensation. The commander lifted the two precum-soaked fingers to his lips and sucked on them, while Armin looked over his shoulder.  
The sight of it made him shutter, watching the handsome man lick his come off his finger. He let out a small, breathy moan. 

"Mmm. You even taste delicious, angel." Commander purred. 

Commander moved back behind him, and bit into Armin's round butt cheeks softly one at a time, nibbling them, running his hands over them, then gently spreading them apart, peeking at his soft, perky pink asshole. He blew on it first, watching it flutter. It was actually, strangely cute, and looked like it hadn’t had any attention in awhile. 

That was when Captain butted in, his voice shaky as Eren rocked his body into the bed. “Don’t do that, you fucking perv.” His arms were wrapped around Eren’s neck, fingers digging into his back, but he could see what Commander was about to attempt.

Commander opened his mouth with a rebuttal, but Eren took over for him, grabbing the small man by a chunk of his dark black undercut, slamming his head down on the mattress. “Are you seriously getting distracted while I’m fucking you, Captain? Am I not doing a good enough job for you?” He pulled out of his partner, wrenching his neck by the hold he had on his hair, and flipped him over, so he was in doggy position, face to face with Armin. Armin’s face was flushed, feeling Commander's hands all over him so gently, and Captain looked absolutely wrecked having Eren inside of him. They both got immediately more turned on from the sight of each other. 

“I think my best friend wants to know how you taste. How about you show him?” Eren said, shoving back into the small soldier without warning, but bracing himself on the Captain's shoulders as to not bash he and Armin’s head together. The ravenette obeyed, leaning forward and capturing Armin’s bottom lip in his mouth, tasting Commander's Gin and Tonic, Armin's Tequila sunrise, and joining his own Whiskey Sour taste to the mix. Feeling Eren plunging into him while his tongue tangled with Armin's was an overwhelming feeling. He needed to come. As if reading his mind, Eren said, “Don’t even think about coming before me. If you do I’ll tie a ribbon around your cock and you won’t be able to come for the rest of the night.” 

Captain gulped. He believed him. And loved that he talked to him that way. He responded with a nod, his lips not leaving Armin’s.

Commander's large, warm hands parted Armin’s small butt cheeks, and he teasingly licked from his lower back down his crack, skipping over his hole, finding the tender spot between his hole and balls, licking it aggressively, flicking his tongue back and forth over it, making Armin shake and moan into Captain's mouth.  
Then, he slid away from it, and without warning, dipping his tongue into Armin’s small perked hole, exploring the outside of the small ring of muscle, twirling his tongue around it, licking and slurping like he was kissing it. Armin cried out, reaching forward instinctively to wrap his fingers in Captain's hair so he had something to hold onto while he moaned into his mouth. Captain's other hand found his on the bed, and their fingers laced together, both being pleasured almost too well, moaning into each other in the sexiest way possible. Commander and Eren were finding it hard not to cum watching them.

Commander looked up from behind Armin to gaze at Eren. He was panting, teal eyes half-lidded with pleasure. Sweat was causing Eren's dark, messy hair to stick to his forehead, but his eyes were filled with raging fire and arousal. Eren's gaze met his own and the burnette smirked at the larger blonde pleasuring his best friend, and he reached his hand out toward him. The pads of their fingers rubbed together.  


"I don't know how much more of this I can take." Commander panted, his fingers momentarily laced with Eren's as they looked at their partners, locked together in a passionate kiss.  


Eren nodded. "This is the hottest fucking thing I have ever seen." Commander nodded in agreement.  


Commander moved back down behind Armin, exploring his tight, perky hole with his tongue. The sounds in the room were amazing. Eren grunting as he threw his hips into Captain, Captain moaning into his passionate kiss with Armin, the sound of the wet, sloppy kiss being exchanged between the two ukes. Commander swiveled his tongue around Armin's hole, then started to wiggle it, working on making it's way past the tight ring of muscle. It finally pushed through, sending a sensation shooting through Armin's body he had never felt before.  


“Ah, god, Commander!” Armin was able to cry out, he and Captain temporarily breaking away from each other, saliva hanging between their lips as they pressed their foreheads together. 

“Do you like that, love?” He murmured, stopping momentarily, biting into Armin's thigh before continuing. Eren growled behind Capain. The sight was amazing, he knew he would come soon in this position. He loved having the power to tell his older partner not to orgasm, but he wondered how long he himself would be able to keep it in, with how aroused he was.

He saw the blonde soldier pulling away from Armin, who whimpered at the loss of his touch. Then his tongue was replaced by one small, well lubricated finger, and Armin blushed when he realized that Erwin had started with his pinky finger in an attempt not to hurt him. His pinky finger, even so, was nearly the size of two of his own fingers, and felt amazing. Armin cooed, letting out beautiful, breathy needy noises. "Aah...ah...ah! Mm...." Soon he was rocking back on it, and begging for more, and Commander lubed up his ring finger and slid it in next to it. 

He hadn't had his two fingers inside for long until Armin was begging for him. “Please Commander, I want you inside of me, please.” Armin begged, rocking back on his fingers harder.

“Just a little bit more, angel, I don’t want to hurt you, you’re very, very small, okay? I want you to enjoy this.” He leaned forward, leaving gentle kisses and hickeys on Armin’s shoulder and back as he slipped his middle finger in along side his other two, stretching Armin slowly. Armin arched his back, feeling the stretch and warmth inside him. His fingers felt wonderful, and warm, moving so slow and gently inside him. It was unlike anything that he had ever felt before.  


Eren saw that they were going to change positions, and grabbed Captain by his hips, dragging him over to the window.  


“I want you to come on the window for me. I want everyone in the whole entire city to see how much you enjoy being my uke. You love it, don't you?" He said, nibbling on the ravenette's neck as he braced his hands against the window. It was still night out, but the street was busy below. Only a small lamp was on in the room and it would have been nearly impossible for anyone to see them up so high, but the prospect still sent a shiver through the soldier's spine.  
"Aah." Captain moaned. “Do I have to wait for you to come first?” He asked shakily, hands closing into fists as Eren slid back into him. 

“Damn right you do.”  He said, gripping Captain's hips roughly, plowing into him. He knew his partner wouldn’t last much longer. He had been missing his prostate on purpose before, but now in this position, he could directly pound into it with every thrust. He hit the sensitive bundle of nerves the first time and the smaller man cried out, his teeth hitting together as he leaned forward and hit his head hard on the window.  


"Shh, shh." Eren pulled him back closer to himself, "You love being a bottom don't you? Your hole is so hungry for me." He gently wrapped his arm around Captain's front, running his thumb down his windpipe in a possessive manner, then down his happy trail, resting his hand splayed out on his stomach.  


Eren thrust into him again hard, Captain's whole body shuddering. "Aah! “No, god, please, I’ll cum!” He cried out.  


Eren chuckled, and thrust in again, hitting his prostate harder. “No, stop, please!” The soldier cried. Eren bent forward and dug his teeth into the man's small shoulder. “Do you really want me to stop, Capitan? I’ll stop if you ask me to.” He whispered, slipping his cock almost all the way out, resting only the head inside him.  


“N-no. Please. Please don’t stop. But I can't-I can't- I'm going to cum.” He whispered, his whole body shaking, hardly able to stand. Eren thrust into him one more time, hitting his prostate dead on. Stream after stream of cum shot from his hard, neglected cock, painting the window in strings of white. Captain was grunting through his teeth as he came, before collapsing in Eren’s arms. Eren gently pulled out, then carried the small man over to the couch. He pulled the condom off of himself, which was completely full. 

“When did you come?” Captain panted.

“I’ll never tell.” Eren said with a wink. Captain rested his head in Eren’s lap as they got situated on the couch, ready to watch the show their friends were about to put on.  


Armin was stretched and begging for the larger soldier. 

“Please, please, Commander.” He begged with a breathy moan, rutting back into Erwin’s now four fingers inside him. "Please. Don't leave me like this." I want you. I need you inside me." A single tear had run down the side of his face.

The blonde was sweating and rock hard from Armin's needy cries. “Okay, angel, come here.” He instructed, and Armin backed toward him. “No, I want to see your face.”

Armin turned, and the Commander had moved to the edge of the bed, right in front of the couch, his legs hanging off the edge. He guided Armin to his lap.

Armin slid down in his lap, Erwin’s cock behind him, sliding in the small crack of Armin’s butt. the Commander shivered at the tease. “Mmm.” He smiled. He lifted Armin effortlessly. “Can you lower down on me, is that okay?” He asked softly. Armin nodded. 

“Let me know if there is any pain.” He said, gently taking Armin's hair and sliding it through the gaps in his fingers again, kissing the ends of it as it slipped through his hand.

Armin got on his knees and slowly lowered down on the large man's lap, inch by inch. He was well lubricated, but had to stop many times, leaning into the elder man's wide, defined chest. Armin was facing the Commander, but giving a full view of his back and ass to the two on the couch, who were a completely captive audience to the amazing scene, watching the smaller man gently impale himself on the large soldier's cock. 

“Only go as far as you want to. Or if this hurts we can find a different position.” Commander whispered in his ear.

“No, I like this.” Armin whispered shakily. It took a while, but soon, Armin was completely lowered down, the Commander's member inside him. 

“That was wonderful. You did so good. You did so perfect, beautiful.” Commander encouraged, kissing Armin’s sweating forehead. Armin looped his arms around the larger blonde's neck, and the Commander slid his hands underneath Armin’s thighs. “Let me do this for you.”  


He lifted Armin up, then gently brought him back down into his lap, Armin’s eyes rolling back into his head and his forehead dropping to Commander's chin as he felt the enormous length move inside him. “Oh my god.” He whispered, his whole body shaking as the Commander lifted him, bringing him back down again, slowly speeding up, moving faster and longer, making Armin keen with pleasure, his arms squeezing tighter around his partner's neck. 

“Faster, daddy.” Armin murmured, making Commander freeze, and the two on the couch, Captain who had his back arched in pleasure as Eren had his mouth around his half hard member, looked over. 

“What did he just call you?” Eren eyebrows raised.

“Call me that again, angel.” Commander said, moving quicker as Armin had requested, causing Armin to throw his head back, and moan a beautiful sweet moan. 

“Harder, daddy, please, ahh...more!” The blue-eyed soldier angled his body just a little, able to drop his partner into his lap perfectly, hitting his prostate and causing breathy screams unlike anything he had heard before. 

At the sound of Armin crooning the pet name, tears running down his face, the three others in the room were rock hard immediately. Commander grabbed Armin’s dick, jerking it while he bounced him up and down, and Captain pulled Eren up to him on the couch, tangling his tongue with his, despite the fact his tongue had just been wrapped around his cock. Eren pressed their two lengths together, and began to jerk them off together to the sound of Armin’s moans.

Commander came first, deeply inside Armin to his screams of "daddy, more." Armin came only a few seconds later, then passed out against his partner's chest.  


Commander pulled out of him, carefully removed his condom, and then laid Armin on the soft wine-colored duvet.

“I think you killed him, Commander.” Captain said, Eren and he both finishing on each other’s chests for the second time, looking over at the small, passed out boy on the bed, yellow hair fanned out on the pillows. 

“You literally fucked him to death.” Eren agreed. “But it’s a good way to go. I mean, I wouldn't complain.”

Armin woke up a few minutes later with a contented groan, and the night was far from over.

\--

After at least two hours, they were thoroughly sated. It was like a whirlwind had hit. It was the most amazing thing that had ever happened. It felt like a dream. Meeting handsome soldiers in a bar, having them be interested, having an amazing night with them. It didn’t feel like a one night stand, it felt like something more. 

Commander and Armin had showered first, The larger man helping Armin stand on wobbly legs, being more than careful with his bruised side. They pressed against each other in the shower. 

“That was really nice.” Armin mumbled. 

“Yes. I hope I didn’t hurt you in any way.” Commander said, running his fingers through Armin’s hair, the water dripping off the beautiful golden locks.

“No.” Armin said, resting his chin on the larger man's chest as he looked up at him. “That was the most gentle anyone has ever been with me. I didn’t know that sex could feel like that.” 

He hated himself for saying that. 

“Sorry. That sounded really pathetic.” He followed up.

Commander just ran his hand down his back. “You’re a beautiful, amazing and smart. You deserve to do what makes you happy and be with someone who makes you feel good. I don’t know what’s happened to you in the past, but whatever some asshole has told you about yourself, don’t believe it. You matter, your dreams are worth chasing, and you deserve good things. Advocate for yourself. You’re worth it.” He leaned down and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. “I mean it.”

Armin smiled. He was glad the the water was running so that the older man didn’t see him making some stupid sentimental face. No one had ever told him something like that before. You matter.

\--

Eren and Captain were laying on the couch and exchanging sloppy kisses waiting for their turn in the shower. They had already changed the sheets, so Captain wouldn’t allow them to lay on the bed until they were cleaned.

“I’m glad we met you.” The silver-eyed man murmerred.

“Really?”

“I mean it.”

“Yeah, me too.” Eren smiled. "About you." 

“So do you have a lot of experience in bed? You’re really good.”

“No, actually. I had a couple boyfriends when I was younger. But I haven’t really dated anyone since Armin and I started living together.”

“Ohhh. So uh, are you guys together?”

“No. We're friends. How about you and the Commander?”

“Same. Just friends. He’s not my type. So why haven’t you dated then?”

“It just didn’t feel right.” Eren shrugged. “It's hard to explain. It's not like he would have protested in anyway, it would be quite the opposite. He's just way too easy going for his own good, that’s his main problem. But Jean is my cousin, they started dating because I introduced them. Its guilt, somehow, like how I shouldn’t be happy if I’m the one that made him unhappy.”

“Have you guys ever thought of like...getting help?” The ravenette asked, turning so Eren could see his face.

“What do you mean, help? Like calling the police? About Jean?”

“No, I mean like counseling or something. You could go together. It sounds like he’s been through a lot from all this, and you’re pretty messed up from it too. Maybe it would help to see a shrink.”

Eren gave a short laugh. 

“It's not funny, I’m serious. What he’s going through, has been through, it doesn’t just go away.”

“Speaking from experience?” Eren asked, more serious.

“Something like that, yeah. It ate away at me. Until yeah, I got help from someone who was able to actually help. Instead of just you know, taking pills for it or drinking or you know, whatever."

Eren’s lips drew into a straight line. “Well, any suggestions? I hate to say this, but I have thought of this before. Focus groups are crazy though."

“Yeah, actually.” He said. “Downtown. There’s a doctor named Hange Zoe. She helped me. She’s a little eccentric, but I think that she might be what you guys need.”

“Hange Zoe?”

“Yeah. In the Frame building.”

Eren nodded. “I’ll remember that.”

There was comfortable silence between them for awhile.

“I hope I didn’t hurt you at all.” 

“Nah.” Captain said, stretching. “That’s the way I like it. Next time I’ll rope you up and pound you until you can’t walk straight for a week.”

The words had flown out of his mouth before he could stop them. "Next time" was a conversation they had been avoiding. They still didn't know each other's real names, and at this point it almost seemed like it would be more awkward to ask. 

Eren tried to change the conversation, running his fingers over a small tattoo on Levi's hip. It was a black outlined tattoo of a grim reaper, looking over his shoulder holding a gun. The roman numeral "4" was on his cloak. "I've seen this before." He murmured.  


"You probably have."  


"Commander has one. On his back. And so does Mike. On his shoulder. But their numbers are different." He traced over the roman numeral.  


"You have a good memory, brat." Captain said, ruffling Eren's hair and kissing him on the lips.  


"What does it mean?"  


"Nothing, anymore." He avoided the question, and Eren decided to drop the subject.  


Armin and Commander exited the shower, still completely naked, and climbed in bed.

Eren and Captain took their turn in the shower, the comment about "next time" still hanging over their head.

They climbed into bed after the two blondes, who were snuggled together, Armin looking tiny fitted into Commander's chest, the soldier's arm thrown over him protectively, a couple of his fingers gently stroking his damp flaxen waves.

Captain squeezed in between Eren and Armin, wanting to be the small spoon. Eren laced his fingers together with Captain's and placed a kiss behind his ear, making him shiver.

“Goodnight, Captain.” He murmured sleepily.

“It's Levi. My name’s Levi.” He whispered back. But Eren was already asleep.

\--

It was still dark, the first light of the June morning beginning to barely creep under the thick decorative curtains pulled tight over the enormous hotel windows, which looked out over the never-sleeping city below. One of the two occupants in the king sized bed stirred, the crisp white hotel sheets tangled around his muscular, tanned waist. His hand was laid out on the pillows above him, his fingers intertwined gently with the blonde’s laying next to him.

The small man was spooning him comfortably, his shoulder length blonde hair fanned out like an angel’s, and his lily-white skin covered in light pink kiss marks. In the darkness of the room, a long zipper sounded, signified the zipping up of a military flight suit, and across the room there was more rustling, the sound of a second person slipping into a uniform. The other occupants were trying to move about the dark room as silently as possible, as to not wake the two men still sleepily tangled up in bed.

The man now dressed in the flight suit approached the bed, his small hand ghosting over the exposed skin of the dark haired sleeping boy. His gunmetal grey eyes scanned over the scratch marks down the boy’s back and deep red bite marks along his shoulder, admiring his handiwork from the night before.

“We need to go.” The man across the room said quietly.

“Should we wake them up and say goodbye?”

The second man approached the bed, much larger than the first, his flaxen hair, usually well kept, was still messy with sleep. He was dressed in his complete officer’s uniform: white pants, a black decorated jacket, his hat tucked under his arm. He lowered to his knees, and reaching toward the blonde in bed, he ran his fingers through his hair gently, while his cobalt eyes looked over the boy sleeping so peacefully.

“No.” He whispered, as he drew the small white hand to his lips and kissed it. “If he looks at me with those big blue eyes one more time, I know I’ll never want to leave this room again.”

His partner hummed, as his cold, ivory fingers gently touched the tan skin of the second sleeping boy, making him stir but not wake. “You’re right. We fucked up, Erwin.”  
“This is the first time in my life that I haven’t wanted Fleet Week to end.”  


\--  
The dark haired man awoke suddenly, and realized that there was someone sleeping next to him. Reaching down and running his hand down the face of the man molded into him, he recognized the familiar features immediately as his roommate and best friend. He could tell he was awake by the sharpness of his breathing and the way he was picking at his hangnails, his hands stretched out in front of him on the bed.

“They left us.” The man next to him spoke, not turning his head to look back at the man he was spooning. “They left us, Eren.” He said, his voice cracking.

'Did you expect them to stay?' The thought ran through Eren’s head, but he didn’t let it escape his lips. He wouldn’t say that, not to Armin. Armin was a logical thinker. He knew he was thinking the same thing, but was speaking with his heart instead of his mind, which he so rarely did.

Eren squeezed Armin’s shoulder. “Yes they did.”

“What assholes. What is this?” He gritted his teeth.

Eren didn’t know how to respond so he didn’t say anything.

“Why didn’t they say goodbye before they left?”

“I don’t know, Min, maybe they didn’t want to wake us up.” Eren said, running his thumb over the smooth skin of Armin’s back, feeling the raised kiss marks left so gently the night before.

“They were so kind to us. After all the things they said to us I thought...”

“Maybe they were just in a hurry, Min. They have to leave this morning.”

“I thought we had something. Enough to say thank you at least.” Armin mumbled out the last few words, like he didn’t really know what he wanted to say.

“Yeah. I thought so too.” Eren agreed, his words of affirmation not matching his own thoughts. 'This is Fleet Week, they’ve probably banged 5 other guys on the five other nights they were here.' He thought to himself. 'I would never expect to be someone special to them.' Thinking that made some sort of distressed emotion flush through him, but he would rather tell himself the truth then hold onto some twisted hope for happily ever after.

Armin didn’t speak for awhile, but Eren could hear his telltale upset tick, the biting of his lower lip. Eren wondered if he had chewed it raw yet. “I want to go home, Eren.” He finally whispered.

“Yeah, me too. Let's get out of here.”

Armin crawled to the edge of the bed, he put his feet on the floor and got up, trying to stand, but his legs instantly collapsed under him and he fell face down onto the white shag rug covering the floor. “Fuck.” He muttered, an unusual occurrence, as Armin rarely used foul language.

Eren moved to help him up. “I’m sorry, Min.” Eren said quietly, as he helped him to his feet, his own legs shaking a bit.

“Why are you sorry? This was all my idea.”

“I just am. This was a mistake. We should have left when we were going to last night. Before this all happened.”

“We don’t even...fucking...know their real names.” Armin said numbly.

“Yeah. Its…” Eren wasn’t sure what he was trying to say. It was true. They had both an amazing one night stand with nameless soldiers. It’s not like it was his or Armin’s first time. But even after one night they had grown more attached to the strangers than anyone they had ever before met. 'It's unfortunate.' Were the words in his head, but it was so much more than that. It was overall a shitty, bitter feeling.

“I don’t want to talk about this.” Armin whispered, yanking on his pants as Eren retrieved his own from the other side of the room. “Lets just go home and pretend last night didn’t happen.”

“Yeah. I think that’s for the best.”


	6. This Is Just An Excuse To Misuse The Word "Interlude"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! This chapter is sort of the end of "part one" of the story. After this we have a three month time skip in the fic.
> 
> This is all I have pre-written, so after this chapter we'll go to weekly updates (unless I get the chapter done sooner.) I really want to have enough time to get a good chapter out for you guys and do the fic justice instead of rushing it. 
> 
> Without further ado, here's a little from our Commander and Captain.

Loss wasn’t feeling Levi was unfamiliar with. It was a feeling he recognized when it hit him, making a lump in his throat, an emptiness in his chest, starting out the size of a pinhole, growing to a cavern that deepened with every breath.

He didn't understand why he was feeling it now. Fear. Loss. Like something very important was about to slip through his fingers forever. What the hell.

He had loved once in his life. Farlan. The only person he had thought he would feel so deeply for. Tall, sandy haired, with mischievous green eyes and a smile that always sat on his lips, even when there wasn't much to smile about. He was bright and full of life. The kind of person you couldn’t look away from. And he was so, so beautiful. His best friend, his partner. His other half.

Watching Farlan die was like seeing part of himself vanish. Instantly. Watching his own life drain away as his partner's blood seeped into the dirty, hard-packed Northern snow, his cold hands trying to cover the impossibly large wound in Farlan's chest. He could still feel it. The blood pulsing out of his friend's chest, seeping through the cracks in his fingers, running down his arms, dripping off of his elbows into the snow. It had all happened too fast. There wasn't even time to react. He had watched person he loved, the only person he ever cared about, be alive and with him one moment and the instant afterward be gone, taken from this world without any fanfare or goodbye. The moment played over and over in his nightmares.

Everyone had lost something in the Northern Conflict. Fathers. Brothers. Friends. Levi's team was no different than the rest. Farlan was just another flag on a grave. Another story. Another son that never made it home.

Levi had never told his feelings to Farlan. He swallowed the words up inside. Waiting for the right time, the right place, the war to end, or one excuse or the other. He finally said them to his corpse, whispering into his bloodied, freezing chest, surrounded only by snow, gunfire, and tall, burning evergreen trees. "I love you. Please don't go. I love you." But by then it was too late.

They were always together, he and Farlan. He didn't have any memories of growing up that didn't have Farlan in them. It was like the days of them would never end. Until suddenly, they did. It was like a freefall off of a cliff he didn't see coming. He didn’t think he would ever recover.

He looked down at his flight suit. The morning had been hectic. It was the same jumpsuit from the night before, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t changed and was disgusted at his uncleanliness. Somehow, though, he didn’t want to. The suit smelled slightly of an unfamiliar cologne, something musky and soft. He wondered if it was cologne, or just that brat's smell. He looked over his wrinkled suit, seeing a lonely chocolate hair stuck to his shoulder. He pulled it off, twirling it between his fingers. It was long, part of that 'M's shaggy touseled mess of hair. He remembered it against him, tickling his face while he slept. Soft, like his skin. His beautiful, almond skin, wrapped around him. Levi could still feel his fingers and teeth digging into it. 'M' looked so powerful, like the perfect Alpha male as his top, but asleep, he looked just like the young man he still really was. He wanted to know more about him. What he was thinking. Why he did the things he did.

The dark hair reflected the early morning sunlight, as Levi stood out on the deck, the Aircraft Carrier moving away from the harbor. He could hear the crowds cheering, and the sailors proudly waving and blowing kisses, but he didn’t move to the other side of the railing to wave. He didn’t care. He twisted the dark hair in his fingers, watching it flutter in the wind.

"So, what's your name?" He asked the hair, glad no one was around to see him looking like a crazy person talking to a strand of hair. Why hadn't he asked? Why hadn't they asked them that? Thinking back, they had never even told them their real names either. Now it really did seem just like a one night stand, didn't it. He gulped at the thought. What jackasses. They looked like total assholes.

The wind ripped the hair from between his fingers, blowing it off into the wind.

‘ _Shit happens_.’ Levi thought. _‘We made a mistake. It is fleet week.'_

He wasn’t a one night stand type of person. He never had been. Come to think of it, he hadn't had a one night stand ever before in his life until last night. He considered it tacky, wasteful and just all around disgusting. But he hadn't felt that way last night. It was the opposite. Last night was the first time in over a decade that he had felt his heart beat. Really, really beat again. The only thing that he felt disgusted with this morning was himself.

He brushed himself off, throwing a glance over his shoulder, watching the city disappear from view. _‘It's not like we’d run into each other again anyway_.’ He murmured.  
Half of him wanted to push it all out of his mind. Return to his cockpit, like the excellent pilot he was. Spend the rest of his life in the air, where nothing could catch him. If he tried hard enough, he could even outfly the memories of everything. Safe inside his glass tube, high up in the clouds.

The other half of him was there still. In bed with that gangly, handsome brat. He wondered what he looked like waking up. Those big teal eyes blinking open, dark hair sticking up in every direction. The other half wanted to stay forever. If even, by a small chance, he could love again, this time, he wouldn't let go.

\--

Erwin's goal had always been to be the commander of his own ship. To be like his father, and his father before him. To join the never ending legacy of the Navy’s Commander Smiths. Proud, strong and brave. As the firstborn, it was his duty to carry on the family legacy.

When he was awarded his title and position as the Commander of he Trost Aircraft Carrier after the Northern Conflict ended, he took it, unafraid. He had now lived at sea nearly as long as he had lived on the land. He was used to being aboard a ship, eating strange cafeteria food, seeing the same people every day, hearing the loud ship engines and the sound of jet planes taking off and landing.

The Smith family legacy would end with him, however. He realized he was gay long before entering the Navy, but had never found a suitable partner. He had had a few boyfriends, but relationships were complicated, and he hated complicated.

He pulled back his black jacket sleeve, and ran his finger over the black simple elastic hairband stretched around his wrist that he had pulled from the beautiful blonde's hair the night before. One long golden hair was tangled around the hair tie shining brightly against the black background. He had always lived in a world of black and white. Systems. Order. In his world of black and white, suddenly, 'L' was the color grey.

Everything about him was a mix. A mix of right and wrong. A battle of bravery and cowardice. The beginnings of running forward and stepping back. He was a walking contradiction. One that he himself didn’t understand. Erwin hungered for it. Everything he was. 'L' was pain, and fear, and beauty, and pleasure. Like a ball of string Erwin longed to unravel, and follow into the abyss. An impossible puzzle Erwin could spend a lifetime decrypting. He sighed. Levi was right. They should have said goodbye. They should have asked their names. But they didn’t. Because he was selfish and a coward.

He wondered if 'L' had cried. He didn’t want to think about it, those big blue crystals, spilling over with tears on his behalf. He had been through so much just hours before, and then put his complete trust in him, only to be left alone.

He wondered if they would meet again. What face should he show him? Should he say sorry? Or would he not want to see him at all? This was the first time in his life, that Erwin had ever felt drawn to someone. Duty was his utmost desire. But 'L' pulled at his heart. It made him feel something that he didn't understand. Uncertainty, maybe? Uneasiness, at going away, and leaving him alone. Uneasiness at not explaining himself and not making sure he was okay. Uneasiness at not telling him the truth, or telling him something. Something simple, like "I don't want this to be the last time we see each other."

He could have given him his phone number. Or at least given him his goddamn name. Fuck.

Erwin shook the thoughts from his mind. He couldn't focus on that. Not now. Not today. They were deployed again. En route to the Southern Islands. The other side of the world. Who knows what they’d find there. If they’d even come back.

He ran his thumb over the simple elastic again. _'And if we do, if he'd even want to see me._ ' Erwin murmured, as he ran his hands over the console and took his station again, trying to push the thoughts from his mind.


	7. Three Years Feels Like Three Months or Sometimes Vice-Versa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter seven! Thank you guys so much for your amazing kudos and comments. This is my first A03 post and the reaction has been really overwhelming. 
> 
> This chapter picks up three months after the ending of chapter six. That should be about all you need to know for now!

Eren turned, looking over his shoulder at the camera, a fluffy beige and forest green scarf tucked around his neck. He was decked out in winter wear, a large red sweater, black pants, boots, and a decorated stocking cap. A short blonde girl, dressed in a similar winter style pressed against him, smiling and turning to get the best angle for the camera. Fake white tufts of snow were falling from a large container near the ceiling, turning the boring warehouse into a snowy winter wonderland.

The Christmas shoot for the downtown boutique "Cherry Blossom" was one that Eren participated in every year. The owners were fond of him, and said he always had the Christmas spirit. He smiled at the thought as he posed for the festive pictures. 

When the shoot was over, Eren unbundled himself from the large scarf and peeled off the winter clothes, slipping back into his jeans, long sleeved shirt and black peacoat. It wasn't quite cold enough for winter wear yet, but September was starting to get a little chilly, especially in the evenings.  
He walked out of the large warehouse, down the alley and onto the main downtown street. The leaves from the abundant trees in Waterfront Park were starting to change and turn fiery shades of orange, red, and yellow, in a few weeks they would fall from their branches and be everywhere, ready to be stepped on, raked, and swirled around by each passing breeze. Autumn was Eren’s favorite time of year. 

He walked a little to the parking garage where his 2015 Toyota Forerunner was parked. The white SUV was roomy and a little unnecessary for the city life he and Armin lived, but he liked having something bigger for the occasional need. Even a pack of gum was hard to find a place for in Armin’s yellow and black Kawasaki Ninja street bike, which looked like a smaller, faster version of Transformers Bumblebee. 

Armin was home when Eren got there. It was something that had been happening more regularly, and Eren didn’t mind it. No, scratch that. Eren loved it. Armin unwinding, taking time at home, relaxing a little. He found him lying face down on their large plush couch, his laptop in front of him. Their apartment was always neat, mostly thanks to Armin, but Eren had a knack for decorating, so things always matched and the decor had a soft, homey feel. 

The walls in their apartment were painted a muted shade of grey, and most of the items matched the grey/white/blue theme. The colors were soothing and basic.  The kitchen was simple and small, with a beige and white patterned counter, white cabinets and a tiled floor. Their appliances were black and white, and the otherwise clean counter had a Keurig, bowl of fruit, and microwave sitting out. Coffee themed artwork, dish towels, and a decorative floor mat livened up the small room.  


The kitchen opened up into a small dining room, featuring a round dining table with two matching chairs on either side. Next to the table sat a tall glass terrarium, where Ropter the black ball python lived. The dining room was connected to the cozy living room, which had a couple large bay windows letting in natural light, a plush grey couch, a navy blue rug on the floor, and a large mounted tv on the wall above a cozy electric fireplace Armin kept going most of the year. 

The were a few tasteful pieces of art on the walls, Armin’s personal favorite was the large acrylic on canvas piece mounted over the couch, a scene of the nearby coastline, Rockaway beach, painted by Eren. The photo showed the beautiful ocean out in the distance, the sun rising over the steely surface, reflecting a beautiful purple, pink and light blue glow off the the water. Two arms of the rising sun shot straight up in the sky, reflecting across the glass surface of the water, awakening the colors and bringing life to the picture. Two sandstone rock formations the size of apartment buildings jutted up out of the ocean in the right side of the frame, a slate grey against the morning colored sky. Golden sand filled the foreground, two pairs of footprints being the only thing shown along the surface of the beach. It was a true work of art.

“What’s up, Armin?” Eren asked, upon entering and seeing his roommate trying to smother himself in the furniture.

“I can’t do it.” He said into the couch, his voice muffled.  

Eren unwrapped his coat and began hanging it up on the closet, kicking off his shoes.

“Can't do what?”

Armin looked up with a sigh. “Why do people do the things that they do?” He asked. 

Eren repeated the question slowly. “Why do people do the things that they do? I think that’s one of the biggest questions in the universe, Min. In what context do you mean?”

He plopped down on the couch, snuggling in next to Armin, who had dressed down into sweatpants and a plain white tee-shirt. 

“I’m having trouble writing my characters. Giving them motive, you know. The reason behind their choices.”

Eren sighed. “Well, there are so many reasons. Genetics, nature over nurture, emotions, reactions, education, they all factor in. If you could put your finger on why people do things, you’d be a genius.”

Armin groaned, moving his body closer to Eren's on the couch. Eren threw an arm over the blonde's hip as he tugged his body close, Armin letting out a peaceful hum.

“So what’s the problem, you’re having a problem figuring out your character’s reason is for doing something?” Armin nodded, and Eren shrugged. “Maybe they don’t know either. That’s something that they’re struggling with too. They don’t understand the reason why they chose their certain path, and now they have to figure out why they did, and how to get to the destination they want to using the path that they’ve chosen.” Eren paused for a moment, then continued. ”Finding your reason and purpose and path is part of life's journey, you know.”

Armin looked at him, resting his chin on Eren's chest. “Hmm.” He hummed thoughtfully.

“We’re all on a journey. Having your character be on one is what could make them relatable.” Eren shrugged again. “Just a thought.”

Armin shut his laptop and snuggled more into Eren’s chest, his eyes sliding closed. “That's really good Eren. I'll think about it. How was your day?” He asked.

“Good. Did the winter shoot for "Cherry Blossom" as usual. You?”

“'Cherry Blossom?' Is it that time already?" He hummed. "Me, you know, work, workout, came home, just writing. There’s Chinese in the fridge. I got you that beef broccoli that you like.”

“Thanks, Min. So how’s your writing coming along?”

“Not good. Editing is hard since I do it 8 hours a day. It makes me want to peel my face off doing it to my own work.”

“I’ll edit it if you want to me too.” Eren volunteered.

Armin cracked one eye open, looking up at Eren. “You can read?” He asked, a playful smile creeping across his face.

Eren reached down, grabbing for Armin's belly and thighs to tickle him, sending him into a thrashing fit of giggles.

“What was that?” Eren asked the thrashing ball of laughter. “I read a book once!” After Armin’s giggles of "Stop! Ren, I mean it!" Eren calmed down, kissing Armin on his fringe covered forehead. He let the blonde’s soft ponytail run through his fingers and Armin let out a little purr.

“I’m not very good, anyway. So it's fine I don’t need an editor.” Armin murmured. “It's not like anyone will see it."

Eren tipped his friend’s chin up. “You’re an amazing writer. And the world deserves your works.” he said, leaning down and kissing him on the nose. “You...matter.” He whispered, pressing their foreheads together.

They had promised never to talk about the incidents of that night. And they had rarely had. But the effects of what had happened during Fleet Week were evident to them. Like a stray bullet lodged in their chests, unseen, ignored, but festering under the surface. Scarred, wounded and painful.  
It left questions in their mind and hearts that reflected in their lives. It echoed throughout Armin’s writing. Pages upon pages of character analysis, data study, research, trying to unravel an answer. Why do people do the things that they do. What did I do. Help me understand. Tell me why.  
And then there was Eren. His room filled with large canvases all painted with the same thing. Cold, silver eyes. A tousled black undercut. A grim reaper tattoo. His sketchbook full of drawings of the two men they had met in a dream. The paintings he kept face down, thrown on the floor by his large art desk. Like he would do anything to forget. But at the same time wanted to cling to the memory with both hands, Like it was the most real he had ever felt in his whole life.  
Eren carried anger, and Armin carried pain. It was evident to both of them what the other was feeling. They knew each other too well to fake it. At the same time, talking about it seemed like it would make it that much more potent. So they pushed it down deep inside. Built a wall, keeping the thoughts away, holding back the torrent of feelings. Finding other things to fill their minds. 

“Armin?”

“Mm.”

“I think we should go back to school.”

“What?” Armin asked, sitting up suddenly.

“Well, I was downtown and I saw this board for Watercress Community College about enrollment for classes starting in a week or so. Adult classes at night, just a couple days a week.”

“We already both have degrees, what would we go back to school for? What would we study?”

“Well you’d study writing and book publishing and things like that. And I’d work on my art.” He said a little embarrassed, toying with the soft strands of Armin's hair.

“You’d do more art?” Armin scrambled, grabbing his arms. "Really?"

“Yeah.” Eren laughed. “I’d like to get better, you know. And I think it would be good for us. A nice change.”

"That would be amazing! I love it when you paint, Eren!" Armin gushed. Then he stopped for awhile. “Then what happens? We’ll be the starving artist and the aspiring author? We can't make a living that way.” He said, more realistically.

Eren shrugged. “We’ll take things as they come. We may not be the best but we’ll get better. And besides, that's what we’re taking classes for, right, to get better? I’d rather get older knowing I tried hard and did what I loved, even if I wasn’t the best at it, then settle in a mediocre job forever.”

Armin sighed reluctantly. “Your job is hardly mediocre.” 

Eren elbowed him. “You know what I mean. We both really like something, and I think that while we’re young, we should at least try to get better and take a swing at it, you know? Its not like we’re ditching our jobs and running off to join the circus or something, classes are only a couple nights a week. We’ll start off slow.”

Armin was quiet for a moment. “Eren, I’ll think about enrolling, but I want you to do one thing with me.” He finally said, nibbling on his bottom lip.

“Of course, Min, anything. Just ask.”

“I want--I think that we should talk to a psychologist. God, I hate saying this. Jean’s just been put away for awhile, and with the stuff from that night we’re not talking about, you know. I think it would just help us get things straightened out, especially since we’re not communicating well. I hate saying that I want to talk to someone because most shrinks are crazy and I’m not, but maybe we should just try it once or something. Maybe it would just help us...get better. Even with each other. And move on, I guess, you know?” He stumbled through the jumbled statement of broken up thoughts. Although it didn't make much sense, Eren knew exactly what he meant.

“Oh my God, Armin, that's amazing. It’s a really good idea, I mean it." Eren said excitedly, grabbing Armin in a tight hug. "I’ll find someone, okay? Is that okay? I’ll find someone tomorrow.”

“I didn’t think you’d be this excited.”

“This is great Armin. For both of us. I’m so proud of you. I think it may be just what we need. I’ll find someone good, I swear.”

“Okay then. And I’ll look online at the classes Watercress Community has to offer.”

Eren grabbed Armin’s hand, pulling it to his lips. He didn’t have the right words to say so he just laid a soft kiss on the end of the blonde’s fingers, followed by Armin tugging him in for a short, chaste kiss in the lips, ending with a smile and their foreheads pressed together.

“Thanks, Eren. For everything.” Armin smiled. “Now come on. We have Chinese food in the fridge.”

\--

Eren hurried out of the enormous office building, throwing a paranoid glance over the shoulder. What the hell. What was with these fucking doctors? He had visited six therapists so far to see if they would be right for he and Armin, so far he had found out that most of them NEED a therapist. What the heck was wrong with this world. Jesus. Pixus was a drunk, and basically a deviant, Eren could still feel the place on his ass where he had shamelessly groped him and told him he was in excellent shape for a young man. Robinson was boring. He was like a walking book on tape, and not in a good way. Zachery was old and creepy as fuck. Not like regular old man creepy, like “point to the place on the doll where the old man touched you” creepy. Things were beginning to feel a little hopeless.

Eren crumpled up the small piece of paper with Pixus’s address on it, dropping it into a nearby garbage can. He had told Armin he would find a doctor for them a week ago, and hadn’t. He had visited every recommended one, looked online, checked reviews, called around, and today had been his last hope. He had failed. 

Armin had done all the legwork signing them up for classes, getting their books, and he had this one simple job, and he couldn’t follow through for him. After he had been so excited about it, sooner or later he was going to tell Armin that he had come up empty. What would happen then? This was what Armin needed, truly, what they both needed, how could he let him down?

He walked down the sidewalk, kicking a rock, which flew and hit a nearby car tire, making Eren grunt. He was so frustrated. Then he remembered: he had class to go to.  He looked at his phone to check the time. 4:42. Shit. He had class starting at 5:00 and had told Armin he would meet him there. He didn’t even know what building or classroom he was in.

He dashed down the street to his Forerunner, jumped in, taking side streets the short distance to the college in order to avoid the rush hour traffic just beginning to clog up the main downtown streets. He pulled up in front of the large series of glass buildings that was Watercress Community College, finding a parking spot right next to Armin’s yellow and black streetbike.  
He pulled out his phone. 4:53. a text from Armin was waiting for him. It was like after all this time, Armin could reading his mind.

Min: Building 2. It's the far left one behind the statue of the founder reading a book in the courtyard. Classroom 401.

Eren ran across the campus, past the courtyard as Armin instructed, turned left at a tall brass statue of an old man reading a large book, and caught sight of a modern glass building with the number 2 over the door. Throwing the door open, he looked to the left and right quickly, sliding down the hallway, knowing for certain he was going to be late. He counted the doorways, classroom 398 and 400, so the next door must be 401.

He swung the door open, hopping down the flight of stairs in the large stadium-style lecture hall and slipping in to one of the empty seats in the 7th row. The large hall looked very empty, there were probably only about 15 students present, and the hall was large enough to hold a class of at least 200. He looked around, wondering how he couldn’t find Armin in a class with so few students, but he focused back on the front of the room as a teacher came forward from down one of the aisleways. She had her chestnut hair pulled back in a high ponytail, and was wearing a long white lab coat. Tucked under her arm was an old fashioned looking glass jar. Inside the jar, sloshing around in some murky colored water, was a large, grey human brain. Eren blanched at the sight of it, but the other students looked intrigued. The teacher approached the front of the hall, slid the brain jar down onto the table that was set up on the stage, and the then surveyed the class, adjusting the rectangular goggles that she wore as glasses.

“When I was young, my grandfather had a brain in a jar such as this in his home.” She began, sitting on the front of the table, looking at the class through wide eyes, her fingers pressed together. “I never asked where it came from, or why it was there. It always just, was. It was the brain in my grandfather's house. Now that I’m older, I ask the obvious questions. Whose brain was it? How did it get there? When did it get there? Did my grandfather have permission to put it in a jar? Was it even legal? How was it obtained? Was my grandfather a scientist or doctor who studied this brain? Was he a serial killer and this was one of his trophies?” Her eyes sparkled as she revelled in the thoughts.

“The answer to those questions are in here.” She said, tapping on the brain jar, pointing at the brain inside. “This is my grandfather’s brain. And to answer the questions, I did have permission to remove his brain, and did so after he was dead. I am a doctor, not a serial killer, and he did donate his body to science, so I do have this organ legally.” She laughed a short honk of a laugh, then abruptly as paused.  


“But how about our other questions we ask? How does the mind work, what makes us tick? Why do we see and hear and smell different things? How can what happens in our life affect us? What drives trauma and recovery?” The woman asked, standing from the desk where she had sat. “We’ll take a look at all those questions and more in this class. Welcome to Neurology study 402, I’m Dr. Zoe.”

Eren tipped his head to the side. I am in the wrong room. He thought slowly to himself.

He sat through the lesson, not wanting to be rude and leave. The Dr. was intriguing and smart, albeit a little bit...unusual. Her class was interesting, although he had absolutely no reason to take a Neurology class, and it was the same time as whatever class he was missing now. Modern Art, was it?  
Armin had put the schedules together, and Modern Art they were taking together, Armin thought it would do him well to learn a little more about art. Eren felt bad about missing the first class, the teacher would think he was a complete flake.

He directed his attention back to the Doctor again. Dr. Zoe. She seemed young and intense, with bright, witty eyes, like she knew things, and was excited about her profession. He didn’t know what Neurologists did, exactly...worked with brains, obviously. Maybe they helped people with brain tumors and seizures and things? He guessed it would be hard work, since brains are so complicated, which gives reason to the sarcastic phrase "It's not brain surgery." 

She was telling a story now, relating the sense of sight to a pinhole camera, drawing furiously on the whiteboard mounted on the back wall of the stage. Eren leaned forward in his seat. This class was actually becoming very interesting to him. He wondered what it would be like to be a neurologist. To study brains, understand how the mind truly worked. Would he be able to answer Armin's question then? Why do people do the things that they do? 

Eren’s attention was drawn back to her. He kept getting lost in his own thoughts. “...So I was drawing this picture for one of my friends once, and he told me that my illustrations don’t make any sense. He said to me, Hange, your pictures look like a fourth grader drew them. Maybe you should start drawing with crayons.” She laughed out loud at her own tale as she finished drawing her illustration on the whiteboard.

Eren sat for a minute, putting the name together. Dr. Zoe Hange. Hange Zoe. That name sounded super familiar now, for some reason. Was it one of the names he had pulled up when he had searched for therapists? No, it wasn’t he would have remembered it. He scratched the back of the head, trying to remember where he had heard it before. Then it hit him. From Captain.  
“There was a therapist, named Hange Zoe. She helped me.  She’s a little bit eccentric.” His eyes flicked back up to the teacher. Yep. A little bit eccentric. This was her.  
He shivered. Was this what they called fate, or just bad luck, maybe karma? He didn’t know. Part of him wanted to reach out to her immediately, grab her and say “Do you know Captain? That’s obviously not his real name. Do you know what his name is? Where I can find him?” The other part wanted to punch himself in his own face and run fast and far away.

He sighed, probably too loudly, as she paused and looked over at him, but then after a bit, completely unaffected, continued her lesson. He needed class to be over, as he suddenly felt smothered by his own series of emotions. 

\--

Neurology 402 let out the same time as the class next door, and Armin’s eyes met his as the students from both classes seeped into one another. “How was Neurology, Doctor Eren?” Armin asked with a smirk.

“Good, actually. I got to see a brain in a jar, and learn a lot about how your sense of sight works.”

“Hmm, sounds interesting.” Armin mused. “You just missed the intro in Modern Art and Photography. There was actually a picture of you he used as a demonstration though.”

“Really? A demonstration of what?”

“A missing person's flyer.” He said with a smirk.

“Oh eh-ha-ha-ha.” Eren laughed sarcastically.

“Come on, let's go. You have “Oils and Acrylics" next in 412 and I have “Finding your voice.” in 500.”

“Finding your voice? Are you sick? You sound fine to me.” Eren teased, sticking out his tongue.

“Room 412.” Armin smiled, punching him in the arm. “See you after class.”

\--

It was the next day, Wednesday, at 3:00, when Eren finally had worked up the courage to go to the small office in the Frame building. He stood looking up at the towering glass building. Inside, the large map on the wall said Hange Zoe was suite 887 on floor 16. He got in the large gold elevator and pushed the button, riding up to the 16th floor, then slowly moved down the hallway to a door marked Suite 887, Dr. Hange Zoe, M.D.. He stood outside the door, wondering briefly what he should say when he got inside, but then deciding he would just wing it as he had before.  

He pulled the door open to the small suite. The waiting room was small, just a few chairs pushed up against a soothing colored blue wall. A large fish tank made up a wall in the middle of the room, and peering through the glass filled with water and a variety of colorful fish, he could see a reception desk on the opposite side, where a pleasant woman sat eating an entire loaf of french bread out of a long bakery sleeve. 

“Hi, um, I was wondering if I could see Dr. Hange Zoe?” Eren asked, walking up to the receptionist.

The woman, who’s name plaque said ‘Sasha’ answered him. “Sure sweetie, do you have an appointment?”

“Um, no.” Eren said slowly. “How do I make one?”

“Well, do you have a referral from your doctor?”

“No.”

“Well, Dr. Zoe is a medical specialist, so you will need to get a referral, and then schedule an appointment.”

“Oh, okay. How do I get a referral?” 

“Well, you need to have your doctor basically give us a call and say that you have a reason to be seen by us.”

“Oh.” Eren bit his bottom lip. Since moving out of his Mom's house he hadn’t even been to the doctor. This was already going much worse than he thought it would.

“Do you have a primary care physician who was directing you to a neurologist for any reason?” Sasha inquired.

“Um, no…” Eren said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

“Okay, dear, then I think a good place to start would be a check in with a primary care doctor.” Sasha said kindly. 

“What are you telling this dear boy?” A voice bellowed from the back, thankfully saving Eren from the awkward puddle he was melting into.

“That he needs to make an appointment, Dr. Zoe, and we require referrals.”

The teacher from the day before appeared behind the desk, squinting at Eren through her large rectangular frames. “Ah, nonsense! He’s one of my students. Come on back, dear. What brings you into my humble office today?” She waved him through a door on the side of the reception room into a short hallway with a few rooms on each side. She herded him farther back into the room at the end at the hall, her office, which was sparcely decorated with a large oak desk, a leather chair, a strange half-dead plant, and two chairs opposite the large desk for visitors. A large cityscape oil painting hung on the wall behind the desk. Hange moved to the large leather chair behind the desk, sitting and motioning to one of the chairs on the opposite side for Eren. The brain jar from class was on the desk next to her computer.

“So, what can I do for you? You’re the student who was in the wrong class yesterday, right? What's your name sweety? Would you like to switch over to my class?” she leaned over the desk, moving her face uncomfortably close to his. “I accept.”

“It’s Eren, my name. And, ah, sorry, no. That’s not why I’m here. I really enjoyed your class, I just can’t really find a reason to be in it though, considering my study goals.”  Eren countered. 

“Eren, Eren.” She hummed. “Well then, you must be following me because you’re in love with me. I’m flattered dear, but I can’t return your feelings.” 

“Ah, thanks.” Eren didn’t know how to respond to that but was sure “thanks” was wrong immediately after he had said it.  “Actually. Ah, I was looking for a therapist for me and my friend and someone gave me your name so thought I would see if you would work with us.”

“My friend and I," She corrected, "And what do you mean by therapist?”

“Right. I mean like a psychologist.”

“Someone gave you my name?" She asked, pushing her fingers together and leaning back in her seat. "Who told you I was a shrink?"

The question stumped him. “Are...you...not?” He asked slowly.

“Nope, I’m a Neurologist. It's a medical doctor that works with the brain. It's like,” She swivelled in her chair looking for an analogy, “Neurologists work with the projector, psychologists ask why the projector made the displayed projection.” 

“Oh.” Eren said quietly, and Hange continued.

“Well, I shouldn’t say that I’m not a psychologist, because I was studying it quite a while ago, but I never got certified in it because I thought it was mainly bullshit. I have done some sessions with close friends, but it's mainly due to the fact I’m a good listener and know how to ask the right questions. That’s really all there is to it. So spill the beans on the mystery informant, kid.”

“Will they-- did they do something wrong?” Eren asked, feeling chilish about the question as soon as it exited his lips.

Hange let out a belly laugh. “Nope, just curious on who knows my age old secrets.”

Eren cleared his throat. “Its...a guy that I met in a club.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth he regretted them and tried to backtrack. There was no way now that he could look tactful. “I mean, I...we...it was Fleet Week, and we met by chance and your name came up and I remembered when I heard it in class.” He stuttered.

“A guy you met during Fleet Week.” She said slowly, swiveling in her chair while pressing her fingers together. “So you met in a bar and just randomly started discussing mental helath? That's a strange topic for a first date. Well, unless you're me, that is.”

“Yeah. That sort of was what happened I guess.”

Hange nodded, with a “Riiiiiiight,” obviously not buying his story.

“He said that me and my friend, Armin, should see a therapist. There’s been a lot of shit with his ex-boyfriend. That night before we got drinks the boyfriend, Jean, attacked Armin. Armin probably would have died if it weren't for him.”

“Sounds like a pretty rough night. So this guy,” Hange said, making air quotes around the word guy, “What was his name?”

“I can't remember...I don’t know.”

“You can’t remember, or you don’t know? Those are two separate statements, kiddo.”

“I don’t know. He introduced himself as Captain. He never told me his real name.” 

“Captian.” She sounded out the word. “So you took advice regarding your own mental well being from a perfect stranger?” She asked, swivelling in her chair again. 

A bolt of some sort of unfamiliar emotion, hurt, perhaps, flashed across Eren’s eyes, then disappeared, accompanied by a light blush across his cheeks at the question. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was admitting the night happened to someone other than himself and Armin, or if he was just embarrassment at the confrontive question.

“Or maybe, not a stranger?” Hange questioned. 

Eren stood from his chair. “I’m really sorry for bothering you. This was just a weird misunderstanding, I thought you could help us, but I can see now I am in the wrong place. I’m very truly sorry for taking up your time, I’m sure you’re very busy.” His words were sincere, and it was hard to miss the look of discomfort painted on his face.

Eren walked behind the chair, heading for the door. 

“Hey kid." Hange stopped him with her call. "This guy, Captain, as you say, was he about 4’10", black hair, grey eyes, big black caterpillar mustache? Probably wearing a jumpsuit and palling around with a huge Captain America-esque guy?”

Eren didn’t turn to look back at her, but his hand gripped tightly around the doorknob, so tightly if it had been glass Hange was sure it would have shattered. “He was probably closer to 5’5".” Eren mumbled. “But yeah, on everything else minus the creepy mustache.” He left without looking back, murmering “Have a good afternoon. ” 

Hange just continued to swivel in her chair, thinking.  “Thank god.” She murmured to herself. “That mustache was an absolute sin.”

\--

The water sloshed outside and the enormous Trost lulled back and forth as it always did, cutting through the water at its brisk pace, Erwin at the helm.

Levi was down in the large gym. He supposed one good thing about the military was that every type of workout machine available to mankind was at his disposal. He generally only used the rowing machine, weights and treadmill, but it was the principle of the matter. At this time of day the gym was pretty deserted, which made it his favorite time to work out.  


The steady zippp of the chain from the rowing machine sounding as he pushed back on the machine with his feet, pulling the handle up to his chest.  


Zipppp  


Zipppp  


The playlist in his ears bumped a mediocre pop song. He hated pop music, but it had a nice beat that helped him with his workout. It seemed like all of the songs were about one night, doing everything in one night, making it last before it was gone. He had always rolled his eyes at the notion, thinking about how long life was and how kids these days didn't understand how particularly not-urgent things were. Suddenly, he hated how much he could relate to the songs. He had had one night with someone and didn't use it to the full potential, and now had no idea what future would bring.  


His brooding and rowing were interrupted when a video call showed to be coming through on his phone, stopping the emotional, auto-tuned beat in his ears. The face on the caller ID was familiar, so Levi sighed, propped the phone up on the small podium on the front of the machine, and slid the bar to answer the call.

The familiar grin of Hange Zoe showed on the screen immediately. The bright light of her doctor's office illuminated the room, a cityscape picture taking up the background next to a tall, exotic, half dead plant he remembered Erwin sending Hange for christmas one year. It had grown tall, and was in a big pot next to her desk, but was obviously not having the easiest life, as it was now wilting and the tips of the leaves were very brown. A brain was sitting in a jar next to Hange on the desk, which was not unusual, Levi had seen a lot of things weird things around Hange.

“Shitty glasses. Can't you see I’m busy?” He spoke into the speaker attached to his headphones while he continued his rowing, zipping closer then farther away from the camera, making Hange chuckle.

“Leeeeevi! It's so good to see you too. I wish I was there so I could give you a gigantic hug.You look so adorable, with that enormous Hulk Hogan mustache of yours gone.”  


“It was not a Hulk Hogan mustache. And I only grew it to keep your face at a reasonable distance from mine.”

“Levi, you wound me.” Hange said, mock sorrow in her voice.

“Yeah, well, at least I didn’t resort to physical violence. Then it would have really wounded you.”

“Ah Levi, I could still best you any day of the week. It's your short arms. They were always your downfall, sadly.” She said with a belly laugh. 

“Bring it, shitty glasses. You’re all flabby now, sitting in an office all day.” Levi rolled his eyes, continuing his workout.

“Harsh words. It's mean to call a lady flabby, you know. I should punch you in the face for that, but I wouldn't want to mess up your only okay-ish feature.”

"You're hardly a lady. I’ll put you in the ground and dance on your grave, and I rarely dance. Anyway, why did you call me? We just saw each other like a week ago.”

“If by a week you mean 3 months, 9 days and 8 hours, yes.”

Levi rolled his eyes. “Whatever, nutcase. What do you need? Before you ask, if it has anything to do with my brain or body, no.”

“Aw, but Levi, you’re the perfect specimen! A true tsundere. I bet your brain is all squishy and lovey-dovey on the inside. Just one brainscan is all I ask.” 

“Doubtful, and still no.” Levi replied dryly.

“Dang it. Well, maybe next time. Anyway, I didn't call to bother you about your squishy brain. I’m just checking in.”

“You could have sent me an email.”

“Yeah, but your emails are all the same. Do you have a template you use when you email me?  They all go something like...‘Dear Shitty Glasses, I’m doing fine. Thanks for the email and the nasty x-rays of brains. If you send those again I’ll murder everything you love.  Erwin’s a shit commander so I’m a little seasick. I’d tell you where we were going but then I’d have to kill you. See you soon. Levi”

“I don’t have a template, just every day is exactly the same. And for shit’s sake stop sending me pictures of brain x-rays. Can you even do that? That has to be a breach of doctor/patient confidentiality.”  


Hange vibrated in excitement. “Oh ho ho, it is. But some of them are just too great not to share! Like the man who got the nail gun through the ear? That was amazing. The fluid in the brain... it was coming out of every orifice! ” Her voice trailed off as she pushed her fingers together.

“Say orifice around me one more time and I swear to GOD I will never answer another call from you again. Ever."

Hange giggled a melodious laugh. “Okay, okay. So, How’s the ocean? And that big oaf Erwin?”

“Blue and clear in every direction for now. I saw a bird earlier. And Erwin’s the same as always. Serious. All about his Commander-ness.” 

“Sounds enthralling.”

Levi hummed in agreement. He continued his rowing, looking at the doctor.

“So, Levi, quick question, are you seeing someone?”

“Seeing anyone? I’m seeing you, right now.” He responded dumbly.

“You know what I mean. In a relationship. With anyone special.”

“Did you really call me to ask me that? I’m hanging up, you’re wasting my minutes.”

“We both know that's not a thing anymore.”

“So what’s it to you?”

”Oh, academic curiosity. It's my job to know things.”

Levi paused for awhile, looking to the side before responding. “Have I ever been in a relationship with anyone? I’m shit at relationships and feelings and important things like that.” He said, beginning to row more aggressively. 

“So that's a no?”

“I’m a man in my late 30s who’s been a soldier for too long. I have a total of 5 outfits, a closet for my cleaning supplies, and have never known how to say what I’m feeling. I’m boring, old, lonely and have resting bitch face. No. I’m not seeing anyone. 

“I see.” She said, scribbling something down in a notebook.

“Are you evaluating me?” 

She didn’t answer him. “Did you have any notable experiences during Fleet Week?”

“What? Experiences? Yeah, I stayed with my friends, Shitty Glasses and Giant Tree Man. Everything was up too high in the cupboards.”

“No, that's not what I meant. Did you meet anyone interesting. Tell them any interesting things? Find any, I don’t know, new connections, Captain?” She let the word flow out of her mouth with a straight face. She had heard Eren call Levi Captain yesterday, she was hoping to illicit at least some reaction from him. Levi was pretty good at measuring his emotions, but on hearing his title used in conjunction with the mention of Fleet Week, it flipped a switch. He stopped rowing, gazing at Hange with a death glare. 

“Why did you call me that?” He demanded.

“Call you what? Your title, Captain?” She responded coyly.

Levi's eyes narrowed. “Don't call me that, please.”

Hange scribbled in her notebook. "Whatever you say, Captain.”

“Did Erwin say something to you?” Levi asked, stopping his rowing and staring at her with a pointed look. 

"What are you talking about?" Hange asked innocently.

"What are YOU talking about?" 

“Nope, nothing. Just checking in. What are you being so serious for? Sheesh. Well, I have to go now. Byyyyye!” Hange said, hanging up with a click.

Levi looked at the phone with a confused look on his face, seeing the call ended notification. Levi didn’t consider himself unintelligent. He was smart about the things he needed to be, and also had a lot of important skills under his belt. But he always felt like Hange was two steps ahead of him. He could never anticipate her, and he hated it.  


\--

Hange swiveled back and forth in her chair, holding her phone to her lips hiding her maniacal smile. She wasn’t sure how the dots were connected between Eren, Levi and Erwin, but she would find out. She had been friends with Levi and Erwin for the majority of her life. They couldn't hide anything from her. She shot a quick text off and set the next part of her plan in motion. She loved meddling, it was her favorite. She would unravel whatever this mystery was, no matter how hard everyone tried to hide it.

\--

Levi strolled onto the bridge. It was busy, Erwin standing and looking out one of the enormous front windows while the crew worked behind him.  


“Commander Smith.” Levi greeted him professionally.  


“And Captain Ackerman. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”  


“Let's take a walk. I’m sure they can keep the ship on course without you for a minute.”  


Erwin followed Levi out to the deck, looking over the enormous railing, hearing the loud whooshing of the ship’s engines, listening to the ship cut through the water.  


“Haven’t seen you up here in awhile.” Erwin commented.  


“I don’t see you much anymore either. Not even in the gym or mess hall.”  


"I’ve been busy.”  


“Yeah. Me too.” Levi murmured, looking away. “How’s our situation?” 

“Quiet. Too quiet.” Erwin murmerred. “We’ve been circling the Southern Islands for days. It's where the the Fortuine terrorists have been seen. They’ve been sinking ships in international waters and seem to be taking the small islands over by force one by one. The terrorists have been reported having some sort of advanced weaponry that doesn't make sense."  


“Why are we here? This isn’t even within our territory. If we start a war here, we’re fucked.”  


“True. That's why this is a recon mission.”  


“Unless we get torpedoed, is what you’re saying. Then we can do whatever the fuck we want.”  


Erwin looked away. “Yes.”  


“What the fuck. This has nothing to do with us, why are we here? We’re a thousand miles away from home. I joined the Navy to defend the things I care about. Not start a war for someone else’s.”  


“Terrorism spreads. If it's not stopped at the Southern Islands it will just continue. One day it will be at our home, wherever that may be. For me home has always been the Trost, so this is a pointless conversation. I've given my life to the Navy. To do my duty as a commander whatever the cost.”  


“Said so like a dutiful soldier.”  


“Did you come here to start a fight, or something else?”  


Levi stalled, wondering if he wanted to fight with Erwin. He did. He just...did. He and Erwin had been friends for decades, but now all he wanted to do was have a huge knock-down-drag-out brawl. He felt like they needed it. More than anything. No more of these fake, half-assed conversations. Their relationship had been on the rocks for months. Three months, to be exact. Since they cast off from York after Fleet Week. It was like their mutual guilt had driven them apart, not wanting to be around each other because they would feel the guilt more potently.  


He decided to drop that conversation. No reason to start a fight. Not today.  


“Yeah, right. Don’t pick up any calls from Hange today. She’s being weird.”  


Erwin looked at his phone. “Yeah, I have a missed video call from Mike. They must be planning something.  


“Nice idea to have Mike give you a call. You never could resist him." A small smile tipped up the edge of Levi’s lips, and it was something Erwin hadn’t seen in awhile. He was glad to see Levi smile around him, even if it was at his expense.  


Erwin rolled his head back, like hearing a joke for the thousandth time.  


“It was one time. One time. And it was literally 20 years ago. I thought we weren't going to talk about that anymore.”  


"I think you may have mixed up the phrase 'not talk about' and 'always talk about every day until the end of time.' Because we never said we would not talk about what happened at Bear Lake. I think, contrariwise, that is one of my and Hange's favorite things to reminisce about." 

"I feel uncomfortable that you and Hange discuss that."  


"Everyone within a 30 mile radius of Bear Lake that night still discusses that. We were in a canyon, and it echoed. Oh...it echoed. So much for a stealth mission."  


"I really think you're making it out to be something bigger than it was."  


“Oh ho, I think not. We will never forget that night. It's burned into my brain." Levi's mouth curved up into a smile. "The sound of you screaming Mike's name, that's something I thought I would never get to hear. I thought Farlan was going to shit himself. Farlan was many things, but gay was not one of them."  


Erwin rolled his eyes "We were young."  


"Was that supposed to be an excuse for something? In any event, that was probably the second best night of my life. I will never forget the looks on Hange and Farlan's faces until the day I die." 

"The second? What beat us out for first?"  


“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to, Commander.”  


Levi sounded out the last word of the sentence, then left it hanging in the air as he turned to go inside. 

\--

Eren and Armin weren’t exactly sure how they ended up at Hange’s on Friday evening. The pick up had been sort of like a whirlwind, and now they were in a stranger’s home sitting awkwardly on the couch.  


It had happened like this. Hange had trapped Eren in the hallway after class, and said she had changed her mind, that she wanted to be their therapist. Since she wasn't licensed, the only form of payment she required was feedback on her class. They were too taken aback to say anything at the time, so now they were in her living room. Armin looked happy enough, as a little orange cat had hopped up in his lap and was licking herself while Armin scratched her ears.  


Hange looked the two over. “Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to eat you.” She laughed heartily. “I think I will be able to help you boys out. I’m a good listener so if you’d like we can meet Fridays after my Neurology class and see how things go.”  


“And for payment...you just want us to go to your class, then tell you how it was?” Eren asked, and Hange nodded.  


“Um, okay, I guess." Armin said hesitantly. "How do we start?”  


Hange sat back in the small leather chair across from the couch. "Why are you here?” She asked.  


“We've had some bad life experiences. And we want to get over them and live normal lives.” Eren summed up.  


“Well, no one’s normal. Everyone has scars. Its how you learn to deal with them that helps determine who you are and who you can become. So how about this: tell me what you want to do. Your life goals.”  


“I want to write a book.” Armin said, matter of factly as he gently petted the small cat in his lap.  


"Oh, sorry about her, that's Valkyre. She's our kitten. She's a sweet girl but likes attention."  


"She's perfect." Armin smiled. 

Hange turned to Eren. "What's your goal, Eren?" 

“I want to have my art in galleries.” Eren replied.  
“Okay, perfect. Its great that you both have something you're aiming for already. So, what are you doing to achieve these goals?” Hange asked, as she scribbled in her notebook.  


“We’re going to school, taking classes to get better at them, I guess.” Eren responded.  


Hange looked them over for a minute, then flipped her notebook closed. "Here's what you're going to do. Work harder. Work toward your goals. Work toward your future, and away from your past.” She rifled through her wallet for a business card. “This is my brother’s business. He teaches Krav Maga* downtown. The address is on there. I told him already you would be coming twice a week, after classes on Tuesday and Thursday."  


Armin looked over the card. “Thanks for the information, but I’m not sure if we can afford this. We have rent, and now classes to pay for too.”  


“And also, Krav Maga? We might die.” Eren breathed.  


“Its free. Part of your sessions with me.” Hange said quickly. “Its important. It will help build strength, confidence, and help you get smarter and faster. Besides. Taking a couple to the face during training never hurt anyone.” She said with a wink. Next week report back on how everything is going.  And I expect results.”

\--

After a bit more discussion, they two left, shutting the door quietly behind them. Not long after, a tall man with flaxen hair, a manly mustache and beard combo and a great set of abs came out of the bedroom, a towel around his waist.  


“Picking up more strays?” Mike asked, drying his hair with a small towel.  


“They have something to do with Erwin and Levi." Hange said, a clownish grin spreading across her face. "I have no idea what or how yet, but I’m going to figure it out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Krav Maga is a military self defense program designed originally for the Israli Defense Forces. Its designed to be fast, intuitive, and easy to learn. It was derived from a mix of boxing, wrestling, street-fighting, as well as aikido, judo and karate. Its super badass. (Think John Wick.) Its also very practical and easy to pick up, as many of the movements are natural reactions.
> 
> Action will pick up soon, I promise! I am so excited to get the next chapter out, I have been waiting for this chapter 8 pairing since I started writing this fic!


	8. Side By Side And Worlds Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! So glad you stuck around for chapter 8! I was so excited for this chapter. *cough Eremin*
> 
> I suck at pacing, I'm always so excited to punch through the character development chapters to get to the next big sequence, so sorry if it feels like I'm rushing the story, I'm just so excited to get all of our boys back together and get the real drama started. (Its just around the corner now, so stay with me!)

Eren sat back in his chair, looking at the large canvas propped up in front of him with a smile. He had decided to paint something he was familiar with for this particular assignment, Armin with his motorcycle, but the simple image in his head soon turned into something else entirely. He had taken the idea from a 'Sexy Motorcycles' calendar. The painting was of Armin on his motorcycle, viewed from behind. Armin was sitting on his bike, shirtless, his back the main feature of the photo. He was wearing low riding jeans, showcasing two well formed back dimples. His hair was pulled back in its usual loose ponytail, the golden strands blowing in the breeze. He was looking to the side, showcasing his petite, sloped profile, bangs, and eyes that were the perfect shade of blue. The main attraction of the painting was the large tattoo Eren had designed on his back, two wings crossing over on a shield, taking up from between the blonde's shoulder blades to just above his back dimples. A sort of shimmer covered the painting, like it was a photograph that had been taken at sunset. Eren was very proud of it. He hoped Armin would like it, he always enjoyed it when Armin gushed over his art, even if he did pretend to hate the attention.

He had to admit, the past few weeks of visiting Dr. Zoe had opened a better line of communication for them. Since Fleet Week, they had both changed. Aspects of their personalities, the relationship between them, even their willingness to pursue their dreams. It's strange how some things come about.  
Eren had tried to not be as distressed about what had happened that night as Armin. He had tried to measure his reactions from the beginning. But there’s a feeling of rejection that’s unable to be overcome, no matter how strong or confident you are in yourself. He felt the rejection, no matter how much he tried to ignore it. He felt hurt and alone. He couldn’t imagine how Armin was feeling, after having struggled with the feeling of rejection and worthlessness for such a long time after Jean. He hated the thought that someone would make him feel like that again, it made him furious.

When class was over he packed up his painting set, meeting Armin outside.

“How was class?” Armin asked, tucking his book bag under his arm. 

“It was good! We’re working on our paintings now." Eren held the still wet painting forward for Armin to examine.

“Oh my gosh, Eren, is that me?" He asked, and Eren nodded. 

Armin laughed, his nose crinkling. "Oh, my god, it's amazing! I look so intense!” Eren inwardly cheered that he had won Armin's praise.

“Thanks.” Eren said with a grin. “How was your class?”

“Really good, kind of makes me nervous though.” ‘Publishing: The Final Stage’ had been Armin's class. It was enlightening, but showed all the hard work that went into self-publishing a book.

“Well, the only way to get un-nervous about something is to learn how to do it, right?” Eren said with a smile. 

Armin smiled. “I guess. Well, ready for Krav Maga?”

“God, no. I think Hange is trying to run us ragged.”

“I’m loving it. I feel stronger and way more capable.” Armin said flexing. 

“I think you just like punching me in the face for all the times I’ve left my dishes in the living room.”

Armin stuck his tongue out. “Perhaps. Or maybe I’m just teaching you to block. That really is something you should know how to do after all these years. Have you just taken the hits in all the fights you’ve been in?”

“Well, when I was younger I could dodge. I’m a bit out of practice.”

“You do have a nice left hook though. It's surprising since you lead with your right.” Armin waggled his eyebrows.

“I know.” Eren said smugly. “Mikasa taught me that. I think she regrets it.”

“Oh yeah, how’s Mika doing? Have you talked to her lately?” 

“Yeah, her and Reiner are doing really well. I think they’re trying to have a kid.”

“Ugh, weird.”

“Kids are weird?” Eren asked.

“No, just...them. Mikasa's amazing, but they’re a weird couple. I don't know. He’s nice and she’s nice but just not...them.”

Eren shrugged. “We all kind of felt that way, but if she’s happy I’m happy I suppose. It took her awhile to find someone who'd stay with her, so I’m glad she could finally settle down and feel comfortable, you know? It was hard for her, after dad. She felt like she had to take his place and always be there for mom. I kind of thought she would stay at home forever. She's always been the rescuing type.”

“How is your mom?” 

“Good. She’s dating some guy she met on Christian Mingle or something.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah. They’re happy together, but I don’t like going home because, you know.”

“She loves you but hates the things you do?”

“Exactly. I basically broke her heart, according to her. Being gay and wasting my life being a model. But, it’s fine, you know. I’m an adult and happy as I am, so we just kind of went our separate ways I guess. How’s yours?” Eren returned the question.

“Good. Fine. She and Gary moved to some place upstate, Sentinel I think. Gary got a better job at his Firm so it sounds like he'll retire soon. Oh, and they just adopted another kid so now I have two half siblings.”

“Strange.”

“Yeah, life is...it's just not what I thought it would be when I was little I suppose.”

Eren shrugged. "Yeah. I guess that's the way it is though, right?"

Armin nodded his head in agreement. 

“Anyway, let’s get over there to Krav Maga. If we’re late Oluo will yell at us, which is the worst, because then he might bite his tongue.”

“True. Last time that happened he actually splattered blood on my face.”

“Yeah. God. Weird. Obviously related to Hange though.”

\--

Friday came around, and Hange was preparing for her next Neurology class, pouring over her lesson plan at the kitchen table. Mike was standing in the kitchen nearby, chopping vegetables for a chicken pot pie. He was shirtless, as he was most of the time when he was at home, showing off his great chest and arms. Although Hange wasn't interested in him at all, she had to say she didn't mind the view.

“So, Mikey. We need to talk about Erwin and Levi. And the thing we talked about a couple weeks ago.”

“Mm, about your incessant meddling and your conspiracy theories about Erwin, Levi, Eren, and Armin all being involved?”

“Exactly. Will you ask Erwin about Eren and Armin when you talk to him today?”

Mike scoffed. "I'm not going to drill into his personal life and ask him about your wild assumptions. You ask him if you want to know." 

Hange pouted, making Mike sigh. 

“I'll see what I can find within a reasonable line of questioning. I'm not going to push it, and you shouldn't push too hard either, Hange. You have to decide how important this is to you. You might lose the kids or even Erwin and Levi if you try to press this.”

“Don’t worry darling. I’ve got this.” Hange said with a smile.

\--

“Hey Brother. Been awhile.” Mike’s face lit up Erwin’s computer monitor. 

“Hello Mike. How are things?” Erwin swiveled back and forth in his desk chair. He had put off calling Mike for some time, mostly because for however much he loved Hange and Mike, he wasn’t in the mood to deal with their shenanigans at the time. 

“Going well. Work is steady and its finally cooling down here. Our apartment has been unbearable since the air conditioner broke.” 

Erwin hummed. “Yes, I remember. It was terrible when we stayed there in June. You still haven’t had it replaced?”

“We have, actually. It just doesn’t seem to want to work, for some reason. We may have installed it wrong. Hange insisted we figure out how to do it ourselves instead of hiring someone. ‘Its part of what makes life fun.’ She said. Apparently her idea of fun is having no air conditioning. Anyway, How are you?”

“Fine. The same, I suppose.” 

“How’s the Trost?”

“Steady as always. Things don’t really change around here, you know. Recon missions are 99 percent sheer boredom…”

“And 1 percent shit-yourself terror.” Mike finished their age old saying for him. Mike looked over his old friend displaying on his phone screen. It was night outside, Erwin had called late, for him at least, but he could see the sunlight streaming in from a small porthole on Erwin’s grey, metal wall. It was strange, being able to talk to someone face to face when they were on the other side of the world. “You look a little shitty. Maybe you’re finally starting to look your age. I always thought that you’d be the one to stay looking 20 forever. I guess it will be me.” Mike said with a smug grin.

“Well, I’d like to think my job probably is a little more stressful than yours. Hopefully.”

“I don’t know.” Mike said, stretching and dropping the phone down on the pillows. He was laying on his bed, shirtless, rolling around like he was in a Madonna video. “I have to deal with adoring fans, stay in perfect shape, and of course deal with the hardest thing of all…”

“Hange.” They said simultaneously.

Erwin rolled his eyes. “You two are incorrigible, you know that, right?” 

Mike shrugged. “She keeps me young. Hange and I will never be separated. Like you and Levi. Not after everything. There’s a bond that binds us.”

Erwin hummed. “I hope that's true. Me and Levi aren’t exactly on great terms right now.”

“Hange said Levi was acting weird. She told me to check in with you. So this is me checking in. What’s going on with you two?”

“Levi said Hange was acting weird.”

“She’s always fucking weird.”

“Hmm, true.” Erwin replied.

“But really, what’s going on? I know we’re not much for the emotional shit, but let me know if there’s something I can help you with.”

“I just feel….anxious.” Erwin sighed, flexing and unflexing his fingers, swiveling in his chair. He had taken off his stuffy Commander’s jacket that he had always worn with pride and thrown it over the chair, unbuttoning the top two buttons of a his white shirt. The jacket was starting to feel more like a restraint lately than anything else. Like it was choking him, cutting him off from everything. 

“You, anxious? About what? Your mission?”

Erwin shook his head. “Nah. That never gives me nerves. Not anymore. I just, I fucked up. And now Levi and I’s friendship of 20+ years is on the rocks because of it. I never thought I would have to worry about losing my friendship with Levi. No matter how different we are or how much we argue, we’ve always been together. He even picked this floating behemoth to be on with me, he could have definitely had a command of his own, after all we went through in the Northern Conflict.”

“It’s true. And shit must be running pretty hot if you’re fighting.”

Erwin let out a sigh, rubbing his eyebrows. 

“When was the last time you and Levi fought?” Mike asked. 

“The day I told him he had to leave Farlan’s body in the north.” Erwin whispered. 

“I remember that. I remember that day distinctly. God, Farlan’s frozen, bloodied corpse, wrapped in that black blanket, Levi dragging it through the snow with such determination.”

“It was bigger than him, and frozen solid. impossible to carry.” Erwin hummed.

“And you telling him that he had to leave it. You just made him dump it in the woods. Said that if he tried to lug that all the way home, he’d get us all killed.”

“Yes. You were our leader, why did you make me have that conversation with him? I swear, I thought he was going to kill me right there.”

“Because I knew you could get through to him. I remember that fight word for word though. Tears running down Levi’s face. His eyes were so dark that day. I thought he would never forgive you.”

“He did though, once he realized it actually would have gotten us killed, slowing us down so much. But that took awhile.”

Mike nodded. “He forgave you because you did the right thing, and were his friend, even when he hated you with every fiber in his being. You two should just hash out whatever you’re dealing with. You’ve been through more fucked up shit than this. Just get in the ring and beat the shit out of each other until you feel better. Or like, bend him over your desk and fuck his brains out. That'd probably work too.”

Erwin leaned back in his chair, scratching the top of his head. “That may help a little, but won’t remedy the situation. It’s more complicated than that.”

“I won’t make you tell me about it if you don’t want to. It’s whatever. Just know I’m here if you need anything.”

“It's just, Mike...I’ve never felt...tethered to anything before. Not you, or Hange, or even Levi. Levi in a way, but the feeling is different. The way I feel about Levi...it's more a feeling of, brotherhood, no, that's a dumb word. I can't describe the way I feel about Levi, it's so much more than that. I'm sure it's the same way you feel about Hange. Levi, it's...Levi is part of me. He's rooted so deep in my heart I’d never be able to untangle the vines that tie us together. I honestly don't think I would be able to go on without him. But I had a new feeling. It was something different. Like a longing in my heart.”

“Hmm.”

“I just, I met someone. Someone important. So did Levi. Then we fucked up. We let them go. The mutual guilt is driving us apart. Its guilt, and a feeling of loss, and just the thought, you know, what if that was it? We're older now, we've never had serious relationship experiences before. What if that was fate, just dropping our perfect partners in our lap, and we fucked up so hard, and now they're gone? What if we never get another chance?”

Mike was quiet for a long, long time. “Well, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say something...lovey...like that, that’s for sure. But you know, screwing shit up is part of life.” Mike adjusted the earbuds in his ears. “And just because you fucked up one time doesn’t mean it's game over. Get over yourself, and over each other, and if you know, these people are really it for you, like for real, than man up and fix your fuck up. Go make them yours, you know? Instead of sitting around feeling sorry for yourselves.”

Erwin signed. “Sure. Mike. That’s easy for you to say.”

Mike was quiet again. “Do you remember Bear Lake?”

“Yes, no one wants to let me forget it.”

Mike smiled. “Oh, I wasn’t talking about the part where you were underneath me, but that was nice too.”

Erwin rubbed his forehead. “I was 20, and hadn’t finished my growth spurt. I was shorter then, and smaller. When people bring it up now. And we’re almost the same size and full grown men, its weird.”

“Oh, I'm still I’m much bigger than you still Erwin. In every way. I’ll put you on your back again, if you’d like. Quite easily.” Mike smirked.

“Pass, thank you. I’m good.” Erwin said, a slight blush tinting his cheeks.

“Anyway, as I was saying. Erwin, do you remember WHY we went to Bear Lake?” 

Erwin scratched the back of his head. “To get the magnesite.”

“Do you remember what happened that night? You know, the important things.”

Erwin thought back. It was so long ago, but Bear Lake was something he remembered distinctly. It could have been a game changer for their lives, and for the war. “The serum. We made the serum.”

That was it. High up in a lake in the mountains, they had found the last ingredients for the miracle serum that could have changed the world. Mixed together in a small cave, they administered it to a nearly dead rabbit who had been caught in a bear trap, and watched it heal completely from its injuries. This amazing occurrence was immediately followed by an unhealthy amount of self harm to further test the serum, even so far as Hange chasing Mike, hacking three of his fingers off with a machete, and injecting him with the miracle healing serum. They all watched in a mix of awe and disgust as the three fingers grew back, vein by vein, bone by bone, lastly the skin, crawling up the red, exposed muscles and veins, completing the new fingers. Lastly came the fingernails, pushing out of the tops of the three new hairless fingers, creating a miracle before their eyes.  


“Remember that night? That enormous bonfire we threw everything into? We destroyed years of research. If the government ever found out about that, it would probably be considered treason.”

“Yeah.” Erwin whispered.

"That night could have changed our lives. We could have been millionaires. Heroes. Scientists. Researchers. But we destroyed everything.  The serum, notes, all our research, maps, and ingredients. In a matter of minutes, the serum went from the biggest scientific discovery of all time, to a pile of ashes and a secret kept by, well now the four of us, since Farlan is no longer with us. 

Erwin nodded. 

“And you know what, Erwin, that was your idea. You wanted that. As soon as we completed the serum, and you saw the things that it was capable of doing, it was like you saw into the future. Saw warlords making an undefeatable army, dictators that couldn’t die. You saw instead of the good, all the evil things it could do. And you were right. Some knowledge is too powerful to possess. Getting rid of that was the best thing we ever did.”

“Are you going somewhere with this?”

“I trusted your judgement. So did Hange, and Levi, and Farlan did too. And we still do. So whatever's going on between you and Levi, get it out. Talk about it, or just pummel each other until you feel better. I don’t care. If Levi’s worth it, and you’re worth it, and you really think these people, whoever you met are worth it, then fix it. I trust your judgement, you should too.”

“Thanks.” Erwin murmerred.

“Talk later. We have company. “Hange brought these two strays home from her class and they're here all the time now.”

“Take care.”

“Actually, hang on. Hange probably wants to talk to you.” The camera turned to facing forward, and followed Mike’s feet padding on the worn patterned carpet. The door to the bedroom opened, flooding in the warm lighting from the hallway, and Mike’s feet slapped into the kitchen. The camera on Mike's phone raised up to see Hange, and a familiar brunette and blonde leaning over a large canvas in the middle of the Hange and Mike's kitchen table. Hange was taking notes and the smaller man with the ponytail was watching attentively, chin resting on his palm, as the handsome teal eyed man worked on what looked to be a watercolor painting of a fox.

“Here’s Hange, and those are the two strays I was talking about.” Mike said into his headphones, as Erwin looked through the camera at the blonde and brunette from three months ago, sitting at the table with his lifelong friend.

“Mike, what are they doing at your house?” He choked.

“What? Hange lives here, obviously. And Eren and Armin?" The two at the table looked up at the mention of their names, Eren giving a wave of his paintbrush to Mike and Armin sticking his tongue out playfully upon hearing Mike talking about him. Erwin's heart stuttered upon seeing Armin's blazing blue eyes and perfect smile again. He looked a little bulkier than the last time they had met three months ago, his shoulders had filled out a little, and his ponytail had grown a couple inches longer. "I don’t know why they're here. They were coming to Hange for therapy or some such shit, but now they just come over for fun. They play a lot of board games and do their homework here and stuff.”

“Therapy?” 

“Yeah, Apparently Armin's boyfriend was a real shit, and then they got rejected pretty hard a few months ago by a couple douchebags. They won’t talk about it, no matter how much Hange tries to pry it out of them, but something hurt them. They’re also taking Krav Maga with Oluo.”

“Armin.” Erwin breathed, sounding out the blonde's name carefully and quietly, like if he wasn't sure he had permission to use it. “A couple months back, there were some douchebags?” He asked Mike, his eyebrows furrowing.

“Yeah. They’re pretty clammed up about it, but basically it was a bad experience during fleet week. I just think maybe they had their expectations set too high. I mean most of the guys that hop around during fleet week are real asshats, right? I wouldn't expect much from anyone I met at fleet week, but they’re young so they might not know that, unless the guys really led them on or something.”

Mike was grasping at straws with his passive-aggressive accusation, but from the look on Erwin’s face he guessed that somehow, he was on the right track. Erwin swallowed the lump in his throat. He had been missing the blonde, and wondering how he had made him feel that night. Now knowing the truth kind of made him hate himself.

“I have to go. Tell Hange sorry I didn’t have time to talk to her. Talk later, Mike.”

“Take care, Erwin.”

\--

It had been a few weeks since the first session at Hange’s apartment, and Eren and Armin’s visits were beginning to get more frequent, when they could make it over between work, classes, and Krav Maga. Hange’s house was It was relaxing, and Armin loved spending time around Valkyrie, their tiny orange kitten.  


It had been a bit of a shock to find out that the gorgeous, charismatic model Mike was roommates with the quirky doctor, but after awhile, seeing the man around the apartment with Hange got to be natural. The two housemates didn’t seemed romantically inclined, they truly just seemed like friends who shared a bed. It was a little unusual, but everything about Hange was unusual, and Eren and Armin didn’t mind whatever the situation, they were happy to have Mike around. He was funny, an amazing cook, and generally walked around shirtless, which they did not mind in the least. 

It was time for their official session on Friday night, so Hange pulled out her notebook. 

“Well? Reports?” She looked over the two men, sitting on the worn out couch opposite of her favorite leather chair. Eren still had a bit of a black eye, from a good hard hit to the face Armin had dealt him in Krav Maga the previous week. 

“I entered the painting I was working on last week in the Art Walk’s acrylic contest. It wasn’t my best work, it was really hard for me, actually. The theme was ‘50s, so I tried to do a picture similar to some of the celebration images from D-Day, but set in Waterfront Park. It was really challenging. It’s displayed at City Hall right now. There will be prizes, but I won’t know for awhile if I placed. Mostly I’m excited to have my picture displayed somewhere. It’s something that I’ve dreamed of my entire life.”

“Very good, Eren. That was very brave of you. We’ll have to stop by and see it sometime. Won’t we, Mike?”

“Yes.” Mike said distractedly, as he was staring intently at his phone. He was sitting on the floor in front of the couch near Eren’s feet, and Eren looked over his shoulder, making a bit of a confused face.

Hange rolled her eyes. “Mike’s new hobby is shopping on Tinder.”

“Shopping? Do people actually call it that?” Armin asked confusedly.

“Perhaps not. He just uses my account and swipes right, or left, whichever one is yes, on everyone.”

She picked up a pen on the small table next to her leather chair and with amazing proficiency, threw it, imbedding it in the couch centimeters from to Mike’s bare shoulder.

“At least help a sister out and pick some hot ones.” She sighed, looking at Mike.

Mike shrugged with a smirk. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

“Michael January Zacharias, I swear I will cut your fingers off. Again. And they won’t grow back this time.” Hange said with a squint.

Eren and Armin weren’t sure which part they were more confused about in that statement, so Eren butted in. “Your middle name is January?”

Mike sighed. “Fuck you, Hange.”

Hange giggled. “Anyway.” Hange said, continuing as if the strange exchange hadn’t just occurred, “How about you, Armin? How was your week?” 

“I've been posting my story on Wordpress chapter by chapter and its getting a lot of views and comments. It's really gratifying to have people actually reading what I’m writing. I also entered a couple writing contests, a science fiction one and a poetry contest. I’m not good at poetry but I thought it would be a challenge.”

Hange scribbled in her notebook, looking like a detective. “Very good, Armin.”

“And how about Krav Maga, Eren?” Hange asked, looking at Eren’s eye. “I see that still hasn’t healed fully. He really got you, didn’t he?”

Eren rolled his eyes. 

“Its awesome!” Armin chirped. “I’m learning so much so fast. It makes me feel really confident.”

“And Eren is still in the learning how to block stage, I guess? Is that the shiner from last week, or a new one?” Hange teased.

“Hey, Armin is really fast. He’s like one of those MMA fighters that can just like, swoop around.” He said, doing a weird dodging movement with his body.

“Sure…” Hange said, making another note. They wondered what she was writing, if it was notes about them or she was secretly scribbling a grocery list or something.

They talked for a bit more, Hange scribbling more down in her small notebook. There was comfortable silence once they finished, then Hange excitedly cheered as if she remembered something, “Ooh, Mike bought an old Nintendo 64 from a garage sale the other day. Do you guys want to play Mario Kart?”

The two nodded wildly in agreement.

\--

It took awhile, but Mike got the old system attached to the small flatscreen in the living room, and the four gathered around on the floor in front of the coffee table, since the cords wouldn’t reach all the way to the couch.

“House rules!” Hange announced as she handed out some cheap beers. “If you want to drink your beer while you’re playing you have to stop driving because it’s not good to drink and drive.”

“Or what?” Mike asked, getting situated, handing out the strange claw shaped controllers.

“Or else, you get punched in the face. By me.” Hange said proudly, putting her hands on her hips.

The game ensued, bringing out more of Eren’s competitive side than usual. Eren did receive a gentle punch to the cheek from Hange for cheating, but the game came to an abrupt end when Mike insisted on drinking and driving, and Hange insisted on punishment. A vicious fight ensued, with many punches and elbows thrown between the two elder gamers, ending with Hange getting thrown into the kitchen, colliding into the counter and shaking the countertop, knocking a stack of plates onto the ground, shattering them. That’s when they decided it was time to pack it up.

\--

“I think we should probably get going, it's pretty late.” Eren and Armin said, smiling. We had a lot of fun, as usual.” Eren said, tucking his large fox painting under his arm.

“We’re always happy to have you over.” Hange smiled. She had first become interested in the boys because of their connection to Levi and Erwin, but now she was genuinely becoming friends with them and enjoyed having them in her life. Her curiosity still overwhelmed her, however, and she needed to know how they all connected. “Hey Eren, would you paint something for me? I’ll pay you, of course.”

“Depends on what it is, I’m not super great, and I would hate to botch something up, especially if you’re paying me.”

Hange went over to the bookshelf, opened a book, and pulled a picture out. It was an old picture, a polaroid, a little yellowed and obviously worn. There were five people in the picture. 

One was unfamiliar to them, a tall, handsome, sandy haired man, who looked a little like he could be related to Jean, if Jean wasn’t a psychotic asshole. The handsome green eyed man was standing on the far right side of the group, his left elbow casually resting on Captain’s shoulder. Captain and he were looking at each other, Captain with an exceptional grumpy look on his face, and the handsome, green eyed man with a wide smile. He didn't look like a soldier, he looked instead like someone who would be a schoolteacher, or a friendly man that would help you out with directions on the street. He looked extremely out of place in the photograph. 

Commander was standing next to Captain, and they were strangely closer in height then Eren and Armin remembered. Commander was also considerably less bulky, and was sporting a blonde beard, which caused a lump to rise up in Armin's throat. He knew he couldn't stare at that too long. He had always had a thing for facial hair, and that was a little too much. Mike stood next to Commander, making Commander appear much smaller in both height and width. The Commander stood about the same height as Hange in the photograph, who was about 5'10". The two smirked, wondering when Commander had finally gotten his growth spurt. Obviously much later than the average person. 

Hange was on the far end, beside Mike, with one arm squeezing him around the waist. Her other hand was resting on her hip, and she was giving an open mouth smile. They all wore serious faces except for Hange and the man at the far end the two didn’t recognize. 

The group was dressed in camouflage, and had their faces painted in green stripes. They all were wearing what looked like heavy backpacks and were heavily armed, with a rifle strapped on their backs, grenades on their waistbands and a pistol holstered on their hip.

Eren and Armin’s mouths dropped open. "It's Captain and Commander." Armin gasped, and the statement wasn't unheard by Hange and Mike. Everyone in the picture was young, about the same age as Eren and Armin were currently, maybe even younger. It was strange to see Captain and Commander in the same picture as Hange and Mike. Of course, Commander had told them that they had known Mike, and Captain had mentioned Hange. They were all connected, but it hadn’t registered in their heads, for some reason, until that moment. Armin and Eren’s hearts dropped into their stomachs. Did Hange and Mike know their connection to Captain and Commander, and everything that had happened? Were they just messing with them for some unknown reason? The two didn’t know what to say, so Hange spoke instead, reading the looks on their faces. 

“These are some of my special friends. We all knew each other growing up, and we went into the Northern Conflict together. We were all recruited by a man to be part of a special unit.” Hange pulled up her pant leg, showing her grim reaper tattoo on her ankle, which matched the one on Mike’s shoulder, and was nearly identical to the ones they had seen on Captain and Commander, except for the different roman numeral written on the reaper’s cloak. 

“What does your tattoo mean?” Eren asked, hoping to get a better answer from her than he had from Captain. 

“Not much anymore. It's who we were. A special task force. We were given secret missions. Ones that the Navy didn’t want to take responsibility for. We basically didn’t exist. If we had gotten killed, or captured, no one would have come for us. Once the war ended, because of our bravery, they gave us the option to do whatever we wanted. That's how Mike and I got discharged, and Levi and Erwin, or Captain and Commander as you call them, received their current positions in the Navy."

"What kind of missions did you do?" The question slipped out of Eren's mouth as he looked at the picture. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that, I'm sure you can't tell me." 

Hange shrugged. "Assassinations, infiltrations, gathering intel, stealing things. It was a mixed bag. Everything from military and spy work to straight up Mission Impossible shit. One of our final missions was to gather ingredients and create a serum that would supposedly heal any wounds. Like magic." 

Eren and Armin both gaped. What she was saying was unbelievable. They were unsure if Hange was telling the truth, but it wouldn't make any sense for her to lie to them with nothing to gain. 

"Hange." Mike said in a warning sort of tone, one the two hadn't heard from him before. 

"What...for real?" Armin was taken aback. "That's not possible, is it?" 

"Yes." Hange said with a smile. "We completed it, actually. Then we destroyed it immediately. We thought it would be better to get rid of everything then hand it over to the government. A lot of things, even when they're made with good intentions, can end up being used for really bad purposes. And we didn't want it to be used that way." 

Armin and Eren were gaping at them, mouths open so wide they could catch flies. 

"Hange, you need to stop talking." 

Hange looked at Mike, then turned back to Eren and Armin. "Ah yes. But please don't tell anyone. Because that's technically treason, and we would all be shot. Well not you. Just us four." 

"Nice. Now you've scared them to death." Mike said, crossing his arms.

"We just weren't expecting a story like that." Armin said numbly. “What about him?” He asked, pointing to the handsome, sandy haired man.

“He was Levi’s partner. He died in the North.”

“I’m sorry.” Armin said out of habit.

“Everyone lost someone in the war.” Mike murmured.

“So, do you think you can paint it?” Hange asked, turning to Eren, who was still standing in the same place looking stunned.

“I don’t think I can, sorry. Maybe once I get a little more skilled.” he replied, handing the picture back to Hange.

“I think we should go.” Armin said quietly.

“Yeah. We’ll see you around, thanks for everything tonight. And we won't tell anyone, you know. About the thing.”

The two left, shutting the door quietly behind them. 

\--

Mike and Hange stood in the kitchen, staring at each other, arms crossed. "What the fuck, Hange." Mike started. 

Hange shrugged. "Sorry. It just felt like the right thing to do, telling them." 

Mike threw his head back. "We've all collectively kept that secret for what, 20 years, and now you go blab to some kids you've know for a couple weeks?" 

"I just had a feeling." 

"Your feeling," Mike said, putting the word "feeling" in air quotes, "Is going to get us all killed. Seriously, Hange." 

Hange sighed. "It's no big deal, okay? Trust me on this. Erwin and Levi trusted them, and so I think I did the right thing." 

Mike rubbed the back of his head. "Well. I don't know how solid your theory is. But Erwin definitely knew them. You should have seen his face when he saw them here." 

"And they definitely knew them from the picture." 

"So what's the connection?" 

“I don't know, still. But there's something. And it's pretty heavy. Those kids looked pretty distressed after looking at that picture.” Hange commented, scratching under her ponytail.

"And Erwin was being really...emotional. It was weird." 

"So it was like a break up, but they all want to get back together." 

"Eeeh. That's a pretty quick assumption. Not sure if you want to jump to that conclusion." 

"I'm almost positive of it. Call it intuition." 

"That sounds solid.” Mike asked sarcastically, leaning on the counter looking at Hange. "What are you going to do now?"

She pressed her fingertips together and smiled. “Save the world, of course.”  


\--

The ride home was quiet, Armin looking out the passenger window of the Forerunner, hoping he could think of something to say. Nothing came though.  


They two got home, went to their rooms, and Armin came out awhile later to hear Eren’s shower running. He moved into his own bathroom, stripped and got in the shower, letting the hot water run over his body as he leaned his head up against the shower wall. The night hurt. His head was spinning. He took his time washing his hair and body, filling up the bathroom with the scent of grapefruit. It was one of his favorite scents, that reminded him of summer and sunshine.

He slipped into sweats and a white tee and made his way back to his room, quietly shutting the door behind him. He opened a small drawer in his desk, pulling out the bottle of coconut rum he kept there. Popping the top off he took a large drink, feeling the sweet, burning liquid run down his throat. He hated drinking alone. He hated being alone. He hated the way that he felt and the way that he acted and the way that he was so easily effected by the things around him. He rarely drank a lot, but tonight was a special exception. He fell down in his bed, drinking as much as he could, and drifted off to sleep, the bottle still on his chest. 

He was dreaming. It was grey, all around him, like a fog, and there was a familiar scent in the air. Sweet, earthy, and brisk, similar to the smell after a long rainfall. He breathed it in. He knew immediately who’s scent it was.

“Commander?” the word squeaked out of his mouth before he could stop it. No one answered from in the fog, so he followed the soothing scent. God, it smelled amazing. He didn't want to chase the scent, he wanted to run far away. He didn't know what he would say if he found the Commander. He was weak. If the Commander wanted him, he would run back into his arms right away. 

“Why did you leave?" The words came out of his mouth and he couldn't stop them. It was the question he needed to know the answer to, but he knew he would never get to ask. "Why did you leave me?"

He reached out in front of him, unable to see anything in the dense fog.

"Are you here with me now? Why aren't you answering me?" 

Something called his name. “Armin?”

“Commander?

"Armin?" 

"Where are you? I can't see you through this fog." 

“I'm behind you.” With a shiver, Armin suddenly realized it wasn’t the Commander calling him. A hand wrapped around his neck and another around his waist, sweeping his feet out from under him, pulling his body into the person’s behind him. The hands around his body turned to vines, wrapping and twisting around his throat and waist, choking him, squeezing the breath out of him.

“I finally found you, you bitch.” 

No. Not him. Please.

Armin struggled against the familiar person. Jean. He was pulling him tighter and tighter against himself, the vines strangling him, as if Jean was trying to pull him inside his own body. 

“Its okay if you struggle. No one will find you this time. I have all the time in the world with you.” The vines wrapped around his mouth and eyes, blinding him, terrifying him, as Jean yanked him backward into the fog.  He was falling, down down down, Jean’s ropes tangling around him, suffocating him as they pulled him farther down into the dark abyss.

Armin awoke with a gasp, spilling the half empty bottle of rum on himself. 

“Uuh, Great.” He mumbled. He looked at the clock. It was 2:24, he hadn’t been asleep for more than a few minutes.

He tore off his clothes, and took the bottle of coconut rum in his hand as he padded slowly down the hall clad only in his tight athletic boxers, using his hand on the wall to guide him down the small hallway. He was a lot drunker than he thought himself to be, the room was wobbling. And...what was he doing again?  


He stumbled into the kitchen,  wetting a paper towel to wipe the leftover rum off his stomach. Oh he remembered. Hange and Mike and Commander. Erwin. That was his real name. The old picture and the dream. He was drunk and his emotions were spinning. He didn’t understand what he felt, all he knew was that he hated it. 

He slammed the bottle down into the sink, making a loud, metallic rattling, and causing an object across the room to jump. He noticed for the first time that the fireplace in the living room was on, the flame casting a flickering orange glow about the darkened room. Eren was laying on a short window seats jutting out from one of the bay windows in the living room. On the floor next to the short window bench was an empty Jack Daniel’s bottle, with two cigarette stubs stuffed inside. Eren rarely smoked, it was his one vice that showed up only when he was stressed or anxious.

Armin’s body was shaky. He was tired, and felt sad and sick. He saw Eren squinting into the darkness, looking at him in the kitchen. 

“Min? Is everything okay?” He murmured.

Armin crossed the room to him on wobbly legs. He was drunk. And wanted to forget. And wanted to be cared about. And loved, and to be enough for someone. He reached Eren, who was just in his black boxers that clung to his muscular legs. He was laying on the short window seat, the fire’s glow lighting up his body.

“Are you okay, Min?”

Armin didn't answer. Instead, his mouth sloppily met Eren’s, who opened his surprised lips willingly, letting Armin slip his tongue in between them. The blonde's tongue slid around inside the brunette's mouth expertly, their tongues eagerly dancing together. After a few seconds, Eren gently pushed Armin away. The blonde collapsed on his knees next to the bench.

“Min, lets not do this.” Eren said shakily, before their mouths met again, hungrily sliding against one another in a mix of tongue and teeth.

“Armin,” Eren said, pushing the his friend away again, “I mean it. You’re really, really drunk.”

“Ren.” Armin breathed out the rarely used nickname, his cheeks flushed and lips pink in want. It was the only thing he said before pushing his lips back into Eren's, then climbing on top of him on the small window seat. He straddled Eren's waist, rolling his hips and pressing their growing erections against each other, making Eren's whole body shiver. He laced his petite fingers through the thick chocolate hair, roughly slamming the taller man down onto the bench, holding him down by the shoulders and kissing him harder despite his unwillingness. Eren was finding it more and more difficult to resist. 

“Armin, please don’t tease me.” He whispered, pulling the smaller man's hands away from his hair as he gently pushed him away for the third time. “This isn’t like you. Like us. Just go to bed, okay? You’re going to be really hungover tomorrow and it’s just been a really fucking shitty day.”

He didn’t expect his tears to start falling first. Hot, angry tears, cascading from his teal eyes, falling down the side of his face onto the bench underneath him. Armin didn’t see it coming either. He hadn’t seen Eren cry in years. He was Armin’s rock, he was always strong. He hadn’t seen anything hurt him in a long time. Armin reached out, clumsily wiping the tears from Eren’s cheek with an open hand before grabbing the brunette and yanking him up to a sitting position, pressing his milky white skin against Eren's beautiful sunkissed chest.  


They were drunk. And the events of the night with Hange and Mike had been like pulling off an old scab, causing new blood to seep out of an old wound. Armin pressed his head to Eren’s as his chin started to tremble and his own tears started to slowly drip down out of his large crystal blue orbs.

“He said there would be a next time.” Eren mumbled. “Why would he say that?”

Armin shook his head. “I hate this, Ren. Why do we feel this way?”

Eren grabbed Armin’s flaxen hair, which hung freely and tangled from sleep, and used it to yank the blonde against him, as he tumbled them both onto the big blue shag rug right in front of the fireplace.

There wasn’t much said after that, just tears, coming from both of them. Angry, ugly tears from Eren, and softer, quieter tears from Armin. The two hungrily kissed each other, rubbing their bodies against each other as they slid each other’s underwear off quickly. There wasn't much foreplay, only lust and need. Eren pulled Armin up in his lap so they could continue the sloppy, unrefined kissing, saliva dripping between them as they wildly explored each other's mouths. Eren wetted his fingers, moving them behind Armin, quickly working to open the blonde up, the sound of his needy sobs and whimpers melting into their kisses.

Everything was hazy. They weren’t sure why they were doing what they were doing. They had been friends, brothers, since they were children. Now in a moment of distress, instead of doing something sensible, they were satisfying each other in the most primal way possible.

Eren grabbed Armin, pushing him away and face down in doggy position as he used saliva and his hand to get his cock wet. He was hard and dripping with need, and god, Armin's body was so beautiful. He couldn't decide what he wanted more. To take him sweetly and softly for hours and hours, or to utterly ruin him, covering his body in kiss marks, bites, scratches and cum. Both would be so amazing. Commander had been right. He was the most beautiful thing in the world.  


Eren plunged three fingers back into his partner, making sure he was thoroughly stretched before lining himself up behind the blonde. Armin’s body was stiff, and his fingers grasping tightly to the shag rug. Eren’s hands ran up Armin’s smooth, ivory back, followed by his tongue and his lips. Eren's sucked roughly on Armin's neck as he tried to enter him. 

“Armin, you need to relax.” Eren groaned, as he worked to push into Armin from behind. "You're too tight. I can't go into you like this."

“I-I don’t want to do this.” Armin responded, his fingers clenching in the rug. 

"What?" 

"Please let go of me." 

Eren pulled back immediately, his cheeks blushing in embarrassment as he wiped the tears from his face and focused on Armin. 

Eren was quiet, not knowing what to say. “I-I’m sorry, Armin. I thought you wanted this. I thought that’s why you came out here.” Eren’s voice trailed off.

“I'm sorry. I do, I want this, with you, Ren. I just can’t do it...like this. In this position.” He said, lowering his forehead to the carpet, showcasing his doggy style position. “I hate it. It scares me. And it hurts.”

Eren didn’t ask questions. He knew he must have had some sort of bad experience, and he didn’t have to try to guess who had hurt him.

“Tell me what you want, Min.” Eren said, gently grabbing Armin, and pulling him up from that position. 

Armin turned around, straddling the brunette, pushing his back down to the carpet. “I want this. I want to see you.” He whispered, as Eren’s hands gently grasped Armin’s thighs.

Eren nodded. 

Armin moved his mouth down, putting it around Eren's cock, making the brunette gasp as he instinctively moved his hands to the blonde's beautiful locks. Armin's small mouth moved up and down Eren's member, making it hard again as Eren bit into his own shoulder, trying so hard not to thrust into Armin's throat. He was so beautiful. Watching Armin was intoxicating. 

Once Eren was wet enough the blonde raised himself up, and began to lower himself down onto Eren's dick gently, choking out a moan. Eren gasped, throwing his head back as he felt Armin's tight heat around him. Watching the firelight dance around on Armin’s flawless body as he lowered down on him was something he never thought he’d see. It was amazing. 

“Okay.” Armin breathed, lowering all the way down, resting his small hips flush against Eren’s. Eren gasped, again, having Armin’s body against him. 

“Oh my god.” He whispered, and Armin smiled, brushing the tears from his face.

Eren grabbed Armin’s smaller body and rolled him over so the blonde was on the rug underneath him. “Is this okay?” The taller man whispered, running his large hand down his lover's toned chest, teasing the pad of his thumb around one of his nipples. Armin nodded, wrapping his arms around Eren’s neck, and locking his thin, muscular legs around his back. The brunette starting slowly, moving in and out of his petite partner underneath him, then began quickening his pace, moving into a consistent speed, making Armin coo his name. “Aah, Ren...Mmm."

Eren leaned in for a long, sloppy kiss, their tears wet against each other as they nibbled on each other’s lips. 

“Ren.” Armin breathed again, rolling his forehead against Eren’s. “You feel amazing inside me. Eren, oh my god. You're so sexy.”

Armin’s talking made Eren lightheaded. He was so beautiful. He hated to admit he had imagined having Armin under him before, but this was so, so much better than anything he could have ever dreamed of. Armin arched his back into Eren’s thrusts, holding tightly onto the brunette, his fingernails digging into Eren’s dark skin, his legs pulling him in to him tighter.

“Ren, god! Ah!” Armin moaned underneath him. Eren’s head was spinning as Armin’s soft, coconut flavored lips grazed against his, tongue sliding into his mouth again. In the morning they might regret this. But now it was what they needed. 

“Don’t ever leave me, Ren. Please. Don’t ever let me go.”

“I’ll never leave, Armin. I love you so much. You mean more to me than anyone in the world.” Eren whispered, his eyes closing, as he felt Armin’s heat clench around of him. God, he didn’t want this moment to end.

Eren took both of Armin’s hands, gently placing them above his head, and lacing their fingers together, pinning Armin's hands to the floor. 

“I love you too, Eren. You’re the only family I need. I’ve loved you for all my life.” 

Eren rolled his hips, pushing deeper into Armin, their mouths continuing to slide together, the brunette feeling each of the blonde's sweet moans against his lips. Armin’s eyelids fluttered, and his fingers grasped on to Eren’s tighter. 

“More. Harder, Ren. I want to remember this tomorrow.” Armin begged. The brunette released his hold on the smaller's hands, leaving his fingers free to explore his back and tangle in his dark hair. Eren took hold of Armin’s small hips, angling them up, and moved onto his knees, ramming into the petite blonde, the new position making him able to hit Armin’s prostate fast and hard.

“Aaah, Oh, oh my God, Eren!” Armin screamed out, his fingernails tearing across Eren's almond shoulders and yanking his hair, shooting bursts of pain and pleasure through Eren's body. The brunette laughed, reaching three fingers up to gently cover Armin’s mouth. 

“Shhh sweet boy, you’re going to wake the neighbors.” He secretly loved that idea, as he snapped his hips forward again, causing the same reaction, Armin’s hips jutting into the air, causing him to scream out Eren’s name. 

“Shhh.” Eren teased, lowering his mouth down, sucking on one of Armin’s nipples, caressing it with his tongue before moving to the other one, then gently leaving a couple kiss marks on his neck, before snapping his hips forward again, causing another pleasured cry from his partner. 

“What will Mrs. Peterson think of us, Min?” He pounded into him hard and fast, the cries from Armin's mouth relentless as he tore at Eren's back and hair. Eren did nothing to stop them, loving the sound of Armin's heavenly cries, hearing his name screamed out in pleasure. 

"Aah, ahh! Eren, god, I’m going to cum! Armin shook. Eren leaned closer into him, tucking one hand under his head, twisting his fingers into his golden hair. The other hand he slipped under Armin's petite back for support, feeling his small body quivering underneath him. 

Eren’s fingers caressed Armin’s beautiful hair as the blonde dug his fingernails in deeper to Eren’s already maimed sunkissed flesh. 

“Can I come inside you, Min?”

The question made Armin’s eyes slide close. "God, yes, Ren." He whispered. 

With a deep, rough thrust from Eren, Armin came hard, his own cum covering his body, shooting up and streaming across his own chest, neck and chin. Seconds later, with one last snap of his hips, causing his lover to moan and arch, Eren shuttered and with a low, guttural growl, finished deep inside Armin. He leaned forward, licking the cum off of Armin’s body, then met his lips again in a wet, soft kiss.

“God, I love you, Armin. I love you so fucking much.”  


\--

“What's wrong with us, Eren?” Armin asked, once they were finished and clean, and had moved comfortably into the confines of Eren's enormous bed. If we have each other, than why are we so messed up?”

“Because what we have is something different. And with them it, it... was something else. I don’t fucking know, Min. I don’t understand it. Eren leaned forward, burying his head in Armin’s chest.

“God, I hate crying. I feel like I’ve spent half of my life crying.” Armin said laying back on the pillow, Eren's head of damp dark hair on his chest.

“Yeah. We’re such idiots.” Eren mumbled.

There was silence between them for awhile, as they gently touched each other's bodies, listening to the busy cars going back and forth outside.

"Erwin. And Levi. Those are their names." Armin said quietly. 

"What shitty names. His sounds like an evil king. 'Erwin.'" 

"Yeah. And Captain's sounds like a brand of clothes." 

Eren laughed. "It is a brand of clothes. Who names their kid after pants?" 

"Yeah. Dumb. If I ever see them again, the first thing I'll do is make fun of their names." Armin said. 

Eren was silent for awhile. 

"Eren, do you think that...we're going to see them again?" Armin asked, a mix of sadness and hopefulness in his voice. 

Eren squinted. "If we do, I'll punch them in the face, and they'll have a hell of a lot of explaining to do if they ever want to come near you again. 

Armin smiled sadly but didn't respond. 

“Are you okay, Min? Is your body okay?”

“Yeah Eren. You were amazing. It was just that today was shitty. Then, I had a bad dream, about Jean.”

Eren shuttered. “I’ll make sure nothing bad ever happens to you. I promise. You mean more to me than anything else in the world.”

“Me too. About you, Ren.”

“Oh I just remembered. What do you want to do next weekend?”

“Why? What's next weekend?” 

“Your birthday.”

“God.” Armin mumbled. “Celebrating birthdays when you’re older is weird. I’d rather people not celebrate me.”

Eren smiled. “Okay, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Well, I was thinking, I actually wanted to get a tattoo.”

“Of what?” 

“I don’t know, I wanted you to draw me something. Something in watercolor. Like the fox you were drawing earlier.”

“Since we’re going in maybe I’ll get one too.” Eren said, pondering.

“A matching one?" 

“If you want.” Eren said.

Armin nodded. "I'd like that."

“Me too." Eren smiled. "I’ll draw some things up and you can see what you like. I’ll give Connie a call too and see if he can sneak us in next Saturday.”

“Thanks, Ren.”

“Hey, Armin?”

“Mmm?”

“I--I never want to hurt you, okay? And not just, you know, when I was trying to do you in that first position...I mean...I’m not expecting us to do it again after tonight, if you don’t want to.” Eren stammered. “But you’re the most important person in my life. I never want to hurt you in any way. So always tell me if I ever hurt you, you know?” He brushed a blonde strand from Armin’s face. “And I’ll never let anyone hurt you ever again. I promise.”

“You’re the most important person to me too, Ren. Let’s never be apart. Lets get old and buy a house at the beach and live there until we die.”

“Okay. I’m fine with anything as long as I’m with you.” Eren wrapped his arms around his friend, pulling him against his chest. "Night night, Min."

"Night, Eren." 

\-- 

Erwin awoke with a gasp. When had he fallen asleep? Sometime after he had talked to Mike. He was still sitting in his desk chair, he must have just drifted off. God, what an old person thing to do. He needed to get more sleep. He had had a terrible dream....he barely remembered it. There was fog and, someone calling him. Armin. He was calling out to him, but he hadn't found him in time. Something terrible had happened. He had heard it in the distance. Just a scream, and then silence.

Why hadn’t he done something? All he knew is something horrible had happened, and he should have stopped it.

He shook himself out of his daze as he heard heavy rapping on the door to his room.

“Commander Smith.”

He slid the large metal door open. His young second in command, Bertholdt, was standing at the door.

“If you’d please come quickly, sir, they’ve seen something on the radar.”

Erwin hurried after Bertholdt down the wide passageway, his heartbeat quickening. He got to the command deck, looking up at the large screen. there were two blips on the radar, that suddenly multiplied to four. 

“What am I looking at?” Erwin asked, looking at the two blips on the radar suddenly racing toward them.

“Submarines, I think.” One of the members at the radar said. 

“Those are torpedoes." Erwin stated, looking at the two objects whizzing toward them on the radar.

“Torpedoes?” Bertholdt asked. "There's no way. They're too fast. Its impossible."

A proximity alarm started blaring, alerting the whole ship to the incoming danger.

"Fuck me. How...?"

Erwin's eyes darkened. "Brace for impact."

The entire ship creaked and groaned as the two torpedoes rocked the enormous ship simultaneously. Crew popped out of their cabin, alerted by the proximity alarm, and began to rally to their stations. Erwin pulled the intercom microphone from the desk. 

“Hello, crew of the Trost, this is your Commander, Erwin Smith. We have a situation one-foxtrot-gamma-niner. This is not a drill. To your station, birds in the air. Permission to engage.”

Erwin put the microphone down and turned to Bertholdt. “You."

"Yes, sir?"

"Find out where those submarines came from."

Levi was out on the flight deck with his co-pilot James, looking over his plane for a routine checkup when the first torpedoes hit, shaking the ship and knocking them both to the ground. 

“Birds in the air. Permission to engage.” Seconds after Erwin's announcement, enormous missiles shot up straight out of the water, aiming for the ship. The missiles hit in various places from the flight deck to the hull, the explosions deafeningly loud making Levi’s ears ring and he and James go skittering across the flight deck as the ship rocked. 

Pilots hurried out onto the unsteady deck and Levi and James rushed to their plane, clambering inside. They were dressed in their work suits, not in their regular flightsuits, but didn't have time to change. 

After the routine check up, they took off, one plane after another on the runway. Another set of missiles exited the water and hit the ship, tearing up the flight deck. 

"For fuck's sake, where are those coming from? A couple more hits like that and we aren't going to have anywhere to touch down when this is over." Levi said to his co-pilot, who nodded as they surveyed the flight deck.

“Captain Ackerman, this is your Commander speaking.” Levi heard in his headset.

“Erwin.” 

“Levi.”

“Find out where those goddamn missiles are coming from.” Erwin said urgently. Levi suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eye, and a group of air-to-air missiles were behind him.

"Those are short range AAM's, where are those coming from, James?" 

"I don't know, I don't know, they're from an aircraft, but the only thing on the radar is us! We can't even see those fucking missiles on our radar!" 

“What the fuck is this, James Bond?” Levi yelled, slamming his hand down on his control wheel. "Find where they came from, James, I don't care if it's Wonder Woman's invisible jet!"

“They told us that the enemies in the Southern Islands had advanced tech, but this, this is sci-fi stuff. We don’t have this yet.” James said, typing furiously on his keyboard. Levi used evasive maneuvers to twist and turn, the targeted missiles still directly behind them. 

"Levi." 

"Kind of busy, Erwin!" He yelled into his headset, as he took a dangerously close dive to the water, the four missiles behind him crashing into the choppy blue water and exploding. 

“Don't fucking die, Ackerman. That's an order. Without you... I wouldn't be okay.”

Levi crinkled his eyebrows at the strangely sentimental thing that Erwin had said, then smiled despite the circumstance. “Yeah. I know. Me too, Smith.”

"Oh and Levi." 

"What, Erwin." 

"Your boy. His name's Eren." 

"Eren." A soft smile came over Levi's face as he said it. 

"Mmm. Take care, Levi. Come home in one piece." 

"Keep the boat floating until I get there." 

Erwin smiled softly, slamming the headset down on the command console. Those few words from Levi had been enough for him. And now, they just had to get through this. 

 

\--


	9. We're Getting The Band Back Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all your comments and kudos, its so encouraging!
> 
> As always, if you seen any errors let me know. I do all the editing and whatnot myself so its easy to miss things.

“Armin Arlert.”

Armin heard a snicker on the other end of the phone line. “You sound so professional picking up your office phone.” 

“Eren?” Armin asked, a smile tugging at his cheeks. “Is that you?”

“Yep. What’s up buttercup?”

“Boring editor stuff, the usual. About ready to claw my face off. Did you need something? You never call me at work.”

“Oh, you know.” Eren said with a sigh. “I just missed the sound of your voice.”

“If you wanted, you could just call and listen to my voicemail.”

“Are you saying I’m not worth your time? I’m truly wounded.”

Armin snickered. “Whatever. Some of us have actual grown up jobs and have to work during the day.”

“Wow, so rude! You know, I worked today too.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep, I did some shots for that car show coming up.”

“Wow, sounds sexy. Did you wear a bikini?”

“Oh, har har. You’re hi-larious, Min.”

“Mm, I know right? I should have been a comedian.” Armin said, his voice a little distant.

“You sound busy.”

“Well, I am still at work, like I was 35 seconds ago, strangely.”

“Wow. Salty.” Eren said sarcastically. “I'll cut to the chase. I called to see if you wanted to come and see my painting at City Hall today. It closes at 5 so you should be able to make it after work and before class.”

Armin was silent for a moment as if mentally reviewing his schedule. “Of course, yeah. I would love that. I can be there around 4:15, is that okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there!” 

“Okay, see you then.”

The time crawled by until Armin was able to finally leave for the day. When 4:00 hit, he hurried out of the office, donned his heavy racing jacket, and zoomed the few blocks down from work to City Hall.

It was officially October now. He liked October, it was Autumn, the weather was mild, and the days were getting shorter. He was turning 27 in two days. He hated celebrating his birthday as he got older, he felt like there wasn’t much to celebrate, and it was awkward having everyone look at him simultaneously. This year, however, he and Eren had plans, and he was actually looking forward to the big day. He wondered what kind of things Eren had sketched up for their matching tattoos. Eren had designed his own dreamcatcher tattoo, which Armin was enamored with, and he was sure Eren would do an excellent job with their designs. He was excited to see them.

The blonde burst through the large glass doors into City Hall. It was a strangely shaped building, made to be artistic and modern, with winding staircases and long halls. The broad hallways were now filled with easels and pedestals, holding up paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other assorted artwork on display for the annual Art Walk. People were casually milling about, studying the art and speaking excitedly to the nearby artists.

“Armin, over here!” He heard a familiar voice calling him, and turned to see Eren standing next to a large painting set up on a metal easel.  Mike was standing nearby, his hands casually stuffed in the front pockets of his pants.  


Armin sighed, rolling his eyes as he walked over to them. They were both dressed extremely well, Mike in distressed jeans, a brown long sleeved shirt and denim jacket, and Eren in a black button down dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and dark jeans, the darkness of his outfit drawing out the beautiful blue and green tones in his eyes. The two models looked intentionally well groomed, hair and skin perfect, and they were drawing far too much attention to themselves.

“Did you both work today?” Armin asked, crossing his arms as he looked between them, feeling like the ugly duckling stuck between two super hot man swans.  


“I did.” Mike said, and Eren nodded.

“All the girls in here are staring at you guys like they want to carry your children.” Armin said with a sigh, running his fingers through his blonde ponytail, not realizing how handsome he himself was in his jeans, motorcycle jacket and converse.

“Oh.” Eren pouted disappointedly. “I thought they were coming over here because they liked my painting.” 

Armin sniggered at the thought that Eren may actually be too hot for his own good. 

Eren stepped to the side, revealing his painting to his friend. The main character was obviously based on Armin, with light hair, soft features and a wide smile that crinkled up his nose. He was wearing an old fashoned sailor's outfit, complete with hat and ascot. The sailor in the painting was hugging a woman around the waist, lifting her from the ground in a warm embrace. The woman had her eyes squeezed shut and a smile on her face as she hugged the man, and was dressed in a floral dress, clutching a vintage handkerchief in her fist. 

“Is that...Mikasa and I?” Armin asked, looking at the picture and studying the woman, whose dark hair was blowing in the breeze.

“I based the characters on you guys, yeah. It's a lot easier to paint someone you’ve seen before.”

Armin looked over the picture. “Oh my God, Mike, look, it's you and Hange!” He pointed at a couple strolling down the street on the far left of the painting. The man was tall and handsome, with well kept blonde facial hair and an easygoing expression. He was wearing a light colored suit and flat cap and was holding hands with the woman next to him. The woman had rectangular glasses and wore a neat, plain dress with a matching jacket. The two looked to be engaged in pleasant conversation.

“I know, right? We look sexy as fuck in any era.” Mike said with a smile, putting his hands on his hips.

Armin smiled then turned to the brunette. “Are you in your picture, Eren?”

“Yep!” He pointed to a small child running down the street waving a newspaper over his head. Armin couldn’t help but bowl over in laughter. “Oh my god. You’re one of the newsies, Eren!”

Eren smiled. “Right?” The boy looked determined, he wanted to tell everyone a story. He looked exactly like Eren, his ruffled dark hair and confident look. “I’m adorable.”

Armin continued to look around the picture. In the crowd he spotted his mom, Reiner, Connie and many friends from high school. In the background near Hange and Mike there was a stage set up, and a man in a decorated uniform was giving what appeared to be a riveting speech. A smaller man stood next to him, his serious, shining eyes peeking out from underneath a military cap. Erwin and Levi.

“Its really, really good, Eren.” Armin said, looking it over.

“Thanks, Min, I’m glad you could come by and see it.” He said, slipping his arm around his friend’s waist. Things had pretty much gone back to normal since the very drunken confessions a few nights before. Nothing had changed between the two, except now they were more affectionate and periodically shared a bed. Armin smiled at the thought. He was glad he and Eren had told each other how they felt, even if they had been completely plastered when they took the leap. It was true. He did love Eren. But for as much as he loved him, he was also his best friend. It was a complicated series of emotions, but somehow miraculously, Eren felt the same way. It was like a dream come true.

“Wanna grab a quick bite before classes?” 

“Sure.” Armin chirped. “Do you want to come with us, Mike?” 

Mike shrugged. “Guess so. Where are you guys headed?”

\--

They all ended up at a small sandwich shop a couple blocks from the college. 

“Armin, isn’t it getting a little cold to be riding around on your motorcycle?” Mike asked, looking Armin over as he shivered a bit in his riding jacket.

“It can get pretty windy, but I don’t stop riding it until it snows.” He shrugged with a smile. “I love my bike.”

“Do you have a car?”

“Yeah, but it's kind of a beater. I’ve had it since high school.”

Eren laughed. “It’s this super old Toyota Corolla.”

“Hey, its vintage. It was my mother’s, and her mother’s before her.”

“For real?” Mike asked.

“No. Well, it really was from my mom. It’s super old with a ton if mileage now, it was my first car. I only drive it for like two months out of the year though, there’s no reason for me to buy a car and a bike. Besides, whenever Eren and I go places together Eren drives his huge soccer mom car anyway.”

Eren’s jaw dropped. “Did you just call my Forerunner…a soccer mom car?” 

Armin leaned in closer to him. “You heard me.” He whispered.

“Those are fighting words.”

“Bring it.”

"Oho, I will, later. I'll put you in the ground during krav maga." Eren said, craking his knuckles. 

"Ha, I'd like to see you try. I've seen babies with more hand eye coordination than you." Armin responded with a sneer. 

"Okay, okay, no fighting you two." Mike said, breaking up the fight before it began. 

The looked at each other, and with one last squinty glare, they seperated.  


"You guys are ridiculous." Mike said, shaking his head. 

Armin shrugged. "So, where did you work today, Mike?"

"I was doing a commercial, actually. It didn't take too much work, it was mostly me walking and looking sexily at myself in the mirror over and over."

"What was it a commercial for?"

"Calogne. It was pretty boring, but I got some calogne and a tailored suit out of the deal, so that was nice." 

"For sure, that always rocks." Eren looked at Armin, explaining, "Sometimes when you do a shoot they make tailored clothes just for you. Then of course you can keep them since they were custom made for your body."

"Oh, that's cool!" Armin said. "Do you have any?" He asked Eren. 

"Suits and whatnot from shoots? Yeah, but they're fancy. I never have occasion to wear them."

"Maybe we should go out sometime so you can dress up all fancy." 

In the middle of the conversation, Mike’s phone rang. He looked at the unfamiliar number, then answered it. “This is Mike.”

His brow crinkled as he listened to the person on the other end of the line, then he scooted out of the booth. “I’ll be right back, guys.” He said away from the phone to Eren and Armin.

“What? Are you serious?” They heard him say as he walked outside and saw him pacing back and forth through the large plate glass windows.

“I wonder who that was.” Eren murmured. 

“No idea.” Armin shrugged. “Sounded like a big deal. Maybe something about work.”

Eren pursed out his lips in thought. “Do you think he has another job, like besides modeling, like I do?”

“Eeh, well, he’s pretty famous, so I'm sure he has other revenue streams, and more prospective job options since he's been in the business longer. But yeah I mean I guess he could. I’ve never really asked.”

Eren leaned back in the booth. “I guess.” He said, mulling it over. “Hey, do you think it's weird, him and Hange?”

They had never talked about it before, and it was funny that it was coming up now all of the sudden. “Which part? That they're roommates?”

Eren nodded, and Armin turned his head to the side, thinking for a minute. “Not really. They’ve known each other forever, and they've obviously gone through a lot, the Northern Conflict and that special team you know? I don’t really understand the logistics of relationships and war and things, but I’d think that if you were with someone and there was so much peril and danger, it would be a relationship that’d be deeper than a normal one.”

Eren nodded. “I guess I see what you’re saying.” He was quiet for a minute, then said slowly. “So do you think that Captain and Commander have that kind of relationship?”

Armin shrugged slowly. “It stands to reason. I mean, we didn’t know much about them, but a friendship that's gone through what theirs has, secrets, death, the test of time, You have to care deeply about a person to choose to be with them like that.”

Eren looked to the right and left suspiciously, then whispered to Armin. “Do you think they ever banged?”

Armin punched Eren hard in the knee. “Eren, you can’t say stuff like that in public.” He hissed, his eyes widening.

Eren crossed his arms in a small pout then added, “That’d be so hot to watch.”

Armin nodded heartily in agreement.

They chomped on their subs mindlessly for awhile. “Your picture is really, really good. I mean it, Eren.”

“Thanks, Armin. It really makes my day to hear you say that.”

There was silence for a moment between them. 

“Did you do your homework for class?”

"Mmhmm."

“How’re your other paintings and whatnot coming along?”

“Really good.” Eren smiled. “I have a few ideas painted up for our matching tattoos. I’ll show you when we get home.”

"I'm excited." Armin said, blue eyes shining. 

"Me too." Eren replied happily. 

Mike came back in a few minutes later. “Sorry about that.”

“Is everything alright?” Armin asked concernedly.

“Yeah. Just kind of...family emergency I guess. But things are getting worked out.”

“Oh. I hope everything’s fine.” 

"Its fine. It's getting worked out." 

Armin and Eren nodded. 

Mike nodded back, changing the subject. “So I hear it’s your birthday in a couple days.”

Armin shot a glance at Eren. “Thanks, snitch.”

"What..ah, me?" Eren stuttered, quickly trying to defend himself.

“Oh, he didn’t tell us. Hange stalked you online. She tends to do that.”

“How?” Armin said, looking from Eren to Mike, like Eren would somehow know the answer to that question. “I don’t have a facebook or anything."

Mike cleared his throat. “Old skills. Hange likes us to keep them...what does she say? Something about not getting rusty. We go out a lot and do courses and stuff to keep brushing up on random stuff that we used in the military. Hange insists on it. Not sure if she's waiting for the apocalypse, or if she just doesn't want us to get old and stagnant.” 

“Ah. Well that's not a bad thing, really." 

Mike shrugged. "Not really. I guess maybe one day we'll use our sniper training, or technical deep sea diving certification, or helicopter piloting training. But, doubt it." He sighed. "Well anyway, when you come over I’ll make you a birthday cake. What type do you like?” 

“Um, any kind, really.”

“He likes carrot cake, spice cake, and white cake. He doesn’t like anything too chocolatey and nothing with a berry filling. German chocolate cake is an exception to all of the above rules. Also, cheesecake is good.” Eren rattled off. “Oh, but don’t do anything with coconut because he’ll die.”

Mike looked at Eren. “Thanks, Eren. So, allergic to coconut, and we’ll go with something spicy or carroty.” He smiled. “Armin, are you one of those people that doesn’t want to inconvenience anyone?”

Armin blushed a little and nodded.

Mike shook his head as he crumpled up his garbage, getting up from his seat. “Here’s a secret. When you have friends, and they want to do stuff for you, it’s not an inconvenience. It’s just friendship.” He gave him a wink.

“Thanks, Mike.” Armin said quietly.

“I have to get out of here and go find Hange. She’s probably poking brains with things at her office, but we have some family stuff to discuss. I’ll see you guys tomorrow, right?”

“Yep, as usual.” Eren smiled.

“See you, then.”

\--

“Gaah. That krav maga killed me tonight.” Eren said, collapsing on the floor as soon as he entered the apartment. “Take me now, god, I’m ready to be in the good place.”

“Hmm, are you sure you’re getting into the good place?” Armin asked, as he hung his keys up and stripped out of his jacket, hanging it up in the hall closet. “Hi Ropter.” He greeted their snake, who was relaxing on his heating pad in the terrarium.

“Nope. I'm definitely not, according to my mother."

Armin chuckled, rubbing his bottom as he walked down the hall. “Gaah, man, I think I pulled a butt muscle.” 

“Totally. Your tiny butt looks uneven now. Eren said, staring at Armin’s butt, hugged tightly by his workout pants.

Armin smiled and looked back over his shoulder at Eren as he walked down the hall, playfully sticking his tongue out at him. 

Armin made it to the bathroom, slipped his shirt off and inspected his slightly battered body in the mirror. 

“Man, that was rough. Some of those guys are just so much faster than us. But that’s how you learn, I suppose.”

Eren appeared behind him, wrapping his long, tan arms around the smaller man, he rested his chin on Armin's shoulder to meet his gaze in the mirror. 

The smaller of the two giggled. “Don't touch me Eren, I smell like sweat.”

The brunette pulled him around to face him, wrapping his arms around his friend, pulling him in for a deep, long kiss. 

“Yeah, you're all sticky. Yeck.” He said, sinking his nose into the blonde’s skin and then smiling, looking up at him with mischievous teal eyes. “Jeez. Take a shower.”

“Get out of here. You're all sticky too. Go rinse off.” Armin said, wiggling in Eren’s grasp.

"You smell like a baby. Why do you always smelling so nice?" Eren said, smelling Armin's skin.

"Don't smell me, that's weird Eren." Armin laughed. "My body has a good PH. I always smell like baby powder, I don't know why." 

"You're cute like a baby too. I could just eat you up." Eren teased. 

“Whatever.” Armin said with an eye roll, slipping his pants off, leaving him exposed for Eren, just in his athletic boxers. Eren looked over Armin’s perfect body, squeezing his small butt in his large hands and feeling it up with a “hmm.” 

Armin scolded him with a blush. “Hey, hands off the merchandise.”

“I was just inspecting out of concern. You definitely pulled something. I really think I should inspect this further, just to be safe.” He said, teasingly. “Doctor Eren is on the case, rest easy.” He slipped his hands down Armin’s boxers, fondling the soft, pert globes of Armin’s small ass. 

He pulled Armin tightly against himself. “No, actually I changed my mind. It’s absolutely perfect.” He leaned in, giving it one last squeeze as he captured Armin’s mouth in a kiss.

“Oh, get out of here.” Armin wiggled in Eren’s grasp, a smile and blush on his face. The burnette grabbed him around the waist, and sweeping his feet out from under him, he gently laid him down on the cold white tile of the bathroom floor. 

“Gotcha.” He smiled, straddling the smaller man. “Now you’re mine. Mwahaha.” Eren grabbed Armin’s hands and easily pinned them above his head, the blonde not resisting. Eren held Armin’s wrists down loosely and gently with one hand, not wanting to make him feel too restrained. With the other hand, he ran his knuckles down Armin’s chest. “I got you. Now you can’t get away.” Eren whispered, leaning in for a kiss, running his tongue down Armin’s neck and chest, a smile spread across the blonde's lips. 

“Oh, no.” Armin whispered. “I guess I’ll have to stay here forever.” The brunette moved his lips back up to his lover's, kissing him again. The kiss deepened, and Eren released Armin’s hands, allowing him to wrap his slender arms around his back, pulling him in closer. 

“Good.” 

“Fine.”

They kissed sweetly, noses rubbing against one another, hands tangling in each other’s hair.

After awhile, they broke away from the kiss, Armin gently pushing Eren away. “Now get off of me, smelly. You’re all sticky. Go take a shower.”

“YOU take a shower.”

“You.”

Armin ushered Eren out of his bathroom, shutting the door behind him and standing there with a stupid smile on his face.

\--

Friday morning, Armin woke up with Eren pressed tightly against his back, not exactly sure when he had gotten there, since he was in his own tiny bed in his room.

“What...why are you in my bed, Eren?” Armin whined.

“Because I love you.” He murmured, holding him tightly around the waist.

“Gaack, I love you too Eren. But I have to go do my workout now.”

“Nooo. Stay here with me. I’ll give you a workout if you know what I mean.” Eren said, his eyes still closed.

Armin chuckled, a small blush on his cheeks at the notion. “You’re so cute.” He said, kissing him on the nose, then trying to squirm out from where he was pressed up between Eren and the wall. “God, this bed is too small for both of us, Eren. Your feet are even hanging off the edge.”

He looked at the end of his short bed, where Eren’s long, tan feet poked out from under the covers and stuck off the end of the bed.

“Then let's get rid of it and you can sleep with me in my bed forever.” He mumbled.

Armin smiled. He would think about that later.

“But I like my bed.”

“Then we can keep it for guests.”

“We don’t have guests over very often.”

“Then it will be for special occasions.”

Armin sighed. “We can talk about this later, okay? I have to go. See you at Neurology tonight.”

\--

Armin used his regular treadmill like he did every day, watching Petra on the morning news. 

“Late last night, an enormous aircraft carrier was towed into York for repairs. It appears to be the Trost, which was in harbor this past June for Fleet Week. There’s no report yet on how this damage came to be, or the state of the crew, but it looks like the Trost may never sail again due to the disrepair.”

Armin’s jaw dropped as he saw the aircraft carrier that they had just seen in June again on TV. It was creaking and smoking, severely leaning to one side, the right side of the flight deck submerged in the water. It was riddled with enormous holes and pieces were blown off of it, no aircrafts remained to be seen on the tilted, deserted deck.

“Holy shit.” Armin said out loud. It would take something crazy to do that to an aircraft carrier, he wondered how it had happened.

He finished his run, showered, and headed to work as usual. At work he checked his phone, and saw a text message from Eren. 

Eren: Remember that aircraft carrier that we saw during fleet week?

Armin texted back right away.

Armin: Yeah, the Trost? I saw it on the news this morning.

Eren: Crazy right? What the hell!

Armin: Are they saying anything about what happened?

Eren: No official reports, but apparently one of the crew members “leaked” (haha get it leaked because the boat leaked) that there were just missiles coming out of the water and submarines and planes and shit that they couldn’t see on their radar. Like super james bond shit. Planes coming out of the water, you know.

Armin: Thats crazy. I bet the bad guys have a secret underground lair where they do top secret sci-fi work.

Eren: like in Danger 5

Armin: And Doctor No.

Eren: Was that underwater?

Armin: Think so. 

Eren: That’d be cool though. Can they have stuff like that underwater?

Armin: Nothing’s impossible. Technology today is way more advanced than we peasants know about. It would just be really impractical, and expensive. Past a certain level of the ocean, sunlight doesn’t even penetrate, so there’s no vegetation and the sea creatures just eat whatever is dead and each other, and grow huge like the giant squid. It’d just be dark, cold, and hella scary. But if it was what you wanted, then whatever. Good place for a secret villian hideout.

Eren: Hehe you said penetrate. Under the sea would be a good place for a secret base. You could only find it if you knew where it was, and could only get to it by submarine or scubadiving. We should become bad guys and get an undersea lair.

Armin: Definitely. I’m in. Depending on the sea level you might not even be able to get there scuba diving. The deepest scuba ever was 1000 feet, but most stay people stay around 160 feet.

Eren: What? That’s nothing!

Armin: Well, its 16 stories, so its something, LOL

Eren: It does sound like a lot when you say that. 

Armin: Water is different. There is water pressure that can greatly affect lungs, if go too deep you'll get crushed, or come up too fast your lungs can explode. Also if you’re under too long you can get delerious and hallucinate and all sorts of stuff, because oxygen is so pressurized it actually gets toxic in a way. Thats why only technical divers can do really deep dives, and even so, its not recommended.

Eren: You know so many things, Armin. So old and wise

Armin: LOL. I listen to a lot of podcasts.

Eren: I've always been afraid of open water since that time when we were like, 6 and went on that rafting trip with our dads and I fell out of the boat and almost got bashed on all the rocks and stuff. The ocean is even more terrifying though. I could never have been in the navy. I like the beach, but the open sea, no way. 

Armin: That rafting trip was the worst. And then Mikasa jumped in after you so our dads had to get you guys both out, meanwhile there was little old terrified me just swirling around in this rubber raft all alone. What a disaster. LOL Well don't worry. When we get our house at the ocean to grow old in we will never have to go in the water farther than our ankles. The Aphotic zone, giant squids, angler fish and sea snakes will stay far away.

Eren: Aphotic zone? 

Armin: Thats the deep part of the ocean. It can start around 600 feet and then goes down just for miles and miles. So much of the ocean is unexplored because we can't get there. Its too dark and the water's too heavy. So freaky, they even made a video game of it. Stuff of nightmares.

Eren: I have learned so much, oh wise one. Let's talk later. I have to design this logo for this guy. He has this great idea to put straws in backpacks to drink out of. Protip: They already made that.

Armin: LOL You could call it horseback instead of camelback

Eren: Snailed it. We’re done here.

Armin: Glad I could help

A shiver ran through his body as he considered the possibilities. Was The Trost the ship that Erwin and Levi had been on? No. It wasn’t. Was it?  
He racked his brain for an answer. Oh my God. What if it was? Were they okay? Had they survived? Terrible images of a battle at sea popped into his head. The massive guns mounted on the aircraft carrier shooting repeatedly at the water, dogfights in the air, missiles exploding, oil aflame in the water. Did they make it?  
What if they were lost at sea, and got eaten by sharks, or had to eat one another like in “In the Heart of the Sea”?  
There were no planes on the flight deck, was Levi there in his plane? Had he crashed or been shot down?  
He put his hands on his forehead. No. He was thinking too much about this. Calm down. Calm down, Armin. He whispered to himself. Everyone just calm the fuck down.

\--

He finished his work, picked up dinner for he and Eren and headed over to Watercress Community College, pulling his bike up next to where Eren was already parked. He was still in his car, waiting for him.

“Aha! What’d you get us? He said, eyeing the grocery bag Armin had strategically tucked under his seat.

“You’ll see.” He smiled as he climbed in Eren’s passenger seat.

“I got us some veggie wraps, with a side of jojos,” he said, opening the small white grocery bag, “And also, this Mike Zacharias calendar,” He said, holding up a calendar with the familiar blonde face, holding a sexy pose, looking off to the side. “I also got this magazine because it had you on the cover.” 

Eren grabbed the calendar full of Mike’s pictures with a gasp and a laugh. “Oh my god, if he finds us with this we’re so dead!” He squeaked.

“I know, right? We should hang it up in our house and then invite them over.”

They laughed hysterically at the notion. 

“Look though, its the “Cherry Blossom” shoot!” Armin said, waving a small magazine at Eren. On the cover was Eren and a small blonde girl, dressed in winter wear and smiling at the camera. What appeared to be snow was falling all around them. There was a small tagline about the local store and their winter items.

“That turned out really well.” Eren smiled, taking it from Armin. He flipped it open, and there was a large, close up picture of his face, wrapped in a scarf and a large fluffy hood, showcasing his beautiful mediterranean eyes.

“So gorgeous.” Armin murmerred.

“Thanks, Min.” Eren smiled. “So what do you want to do tomorrow on your birthday besides get our tattoos? Our appointment is at 7 at Connie’s shop ‘Pins and Needles’.”  


“God, I think that was a bad choice of names.”

“Right? But he does great work, and people come to see him, so,” He shrugged. “Who am I to judge?”

“Well tomorrow is Saturday,” He mused, “So I want to lay on the couch with you and binge watch Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood while eating spaghetti.”

Eren smiled widely, pushing a piece of Armin’s fringe out from in front of his eyes. “Done. As long as I get to be the big spoon on the couch.”

“Of course. Your shoulders are way too big to lay in front, you know. I can’t see anything then.”

Eren smiled. “Well then. It's a date.”

\--

They munched on their wraps and made it in to class at the last minute, where they were greeted by an older man with a nice disposition and a grey beard.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Peterson. I’ll be teaching in the stead of Dr. Zoe today.” He introduced himself.

“Oh, weird. I wonder where Hange is. I hope she’s okay.” Armin whispered, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Well I hope Dr. Peterson isn't related to Mrs. Peterson that lives next door.” Eren whispered back. 

“Oh yeah.” Armin whispered with a blush. “Did she say anything, you know, about that night and all the…” He cleared his throat, “Screaming?”

“No, but she and I don’t make eye contact at the mailboxes anymore.”

Armin blushed but laughed. 

“Well, Hange didn’t text me or anything.” Eren said, looking at his phone. 

“Dang. Well I wish she would have let us know at least. We’re not even getting graded for this class. We could have had a couple hours off.”

Eren smiled. “Right? Oh well.”

They sat through the pleasant man’s lecturing. He was a fine teacher, and according to his introduction, he worked mostly with patients who had substance abuse problems.

“My apologies if this isn’t what you had been studying with Dr. Zoe. I received the call to teach at the last moment so I didn’t have time to look over her lesson plan. I’ll be pulling from my experience to give you a little insight into the brain tonight.”

He wrote down a long list of drugs, and the title “How drugs affect the brain.”

“Drugs are terrible for your body and your mind. They can do irreversible damage, including seizures, amnesia, fatigue, outbursts of anger and personality changes. 

For example, Heroin. This can cause of course, addiction to the drug but also cause people to fall in and out of consciousness periodically when they aren’t using it as well as blood clots and stroke. 

People who overuse the party drug Ecstasy, have a problem with the serotonin producing neurons in their brain, so their brain can stop regulating pain, sleep, and aggressive behavior.” The man pressed his fingers together.

“Methamphetamine can cause permanent neuron death in both your brain and spinal cord, which can over time cause brain damage and loss of motor function. 

But what about how drugs work in our system? 

Marijuana can impair judgement and increase dopamine release.

Rohypnol, or Roofies, can cause slow heart rate, incapacitation, what is the inability to act, able to observe events but unable to move. It can also cause memory impairment and unconsciousness. 

LSD works by influencing the receptors in the mind, and disrupting neurotransmitter in the brain. This can rewire the regulatory system that controls mood, motor control, sensory perception, body temperature and sexual behavior.

Shrooms, similarly so, affect the serotonin receptors and the construction thereof. Consuming shrooms can create numbness, extra sensitive reflexes, sweating, and even loss of urinary control.

But of course there are many other effects..." 

\--

“That was enlightening.” Eren said as the class got out, slowly moving out to the parking lot in a bunch. Armin nodded in agreement.

“Nuts, that sort of thing. Its crazy how so many of those used to be prescribed for medical use until they found out how bad they were for your body.”

“After watching Narcos and Breaking Bad I'll never take hard drugs.”

“It’s scary the thought of getting drugged on accident though. Especially with roofies, and you wouldn’t even be able to remember much of it.”

“Yeah, why would they have even made something like that?”

“I think it was originally created as a drug to help patients sleep. It was also prescribed as a muscle relaxer.” A voice from behind then said. They turned to see the older man who had taught the class.

“Oh, Dr. Peterson! Thank you so much for teaching today. That was really interesting.”

"You're very welcome." The man responded with a kind smile. "Yes, Rohypnol was prescribed to people with muscle aches, insomnia as well as other with mood problems in the late '80s and '90s. It's an inexpensive product to procure, so it became greatly misused, unfortunately." 

"Yeah, that's...bad." Eren mumbled. 

"Its still legal in many countries and often used for suicides, since it slows the heart rate, an overdose can easily be fatal. But anyway. You look like good kids so I'm sure that you won't run into any trouble with something like that." 

Eren nodded and said respectfully "Thank you so much for teaching."

“You’re very welcome. Hange and I periodically work together at the hospital so i was happy to give her a hand. She’s an excellent woman and a great surgeon.”

Armin looked confused. “Hange does surgery?”

The doctor nodded. “Yes, she’s very skilled. She has her own office and enjoys seeing patients, but also works during extreme emergencies. She has steady hands and a level head.” 

The two nodded, shocked at the new thing they had learned about Hange.

“Is Hange sick or anything? Do you know why she wasn’t here?” Eren asked.

“I’m afraid she didn’t say. Just said there was a family emergency and she couldn’t make it to class.”

Armin frowned. “We were supposed to go see her tonight but if she's having some sort of emergency I wouldn’t want to bother her.”

The man smiled. “You could stop by. If she hasn’t told you otherwise I’m sure she wouldn’t be upset. If she doesn’t have time to spend with you she won’t feel bad sending you away.” 

“That’s true. She does say what's on her mind.” Armin smiled.

“Well, I have to take off, but thanks for coming to class! Oh, and young love is just grand, but if you two could keep it down a tad at night, or save your raucous lovemaking for daytime, that would be great. You do have neighbors, after all.” He said with a wink, leaving Armin and Eren with mortified looks on their faces.

\--

Well, I have to go get gas, I’m almost out, but I’ll meet you at Hange’s.” Armin said after they got over the initial shock of their doctor being their neighbor. 

“Okay. Do you want me to follow you or anything?” 

“No.” Armin smirked. “I think I can make it to the gas station without being roofied.”

“Whatever you say.” Eren winked, taking off in his car. October was getting darker earlier, and was getting much chillier at night. He would have to find a way to talk Armin out of riding his bike earlier this year. He hated the thought that there may be ice on the road, but it also just wasn't good for him to be out in such cold wind.

Eren arrived at Hange’s a few minutes later, knocking on the door. There was shuffling around inside, and then a “Hey, can you grab the door?” answered by a muffled “Sure.”

The door swung open and Eren’s eyes narrowed. The small, grey eyed man stood in the doorway, looking at him in shock. Levi.  

“You.” Eren said reproachfully.

“You.” He responded. The same word, but in a completely different tone, Levi’s response was surprised, breathy and a sort of relieved. 

The tall blonde appeared behind him, holding Valkyrie on his shoulder in what was probably the cutest display Eren had ever seen. He was glad Armin wasn’t there because he probably would have fainted on the spot.

He pointed at Erwin. “I would punch you in the face first, but you have a child, so I’ll start with you.” 

His left hook was obvious to Levi, from the swing of his hips to the position of his body. Levi could have dodged it in his sleep from the years of training he had. 

'Nope. I'll give him this one.' Was his thought.

The brunette's fist connected with Levi's chin, with a solid follow through that knocked him back a few steps into Erwin's body.

“Damn, kid.” the smaller man said, shaking his head a little.

“Fuck you.” Eren said, pointing his finger at the raven-haired man. “And you,” He said, glaring at Erwin. “Stay away from Armin." 

Eren bolted back down the stairs to the ground floor, bursting through the foyer onto the street outside. His heart was beating 100 miles a minute, and his knees hit the ground as soon as he was outside. He curled in on himself and gasped, his forehead almost on the ground as he wrapped his arms around his stomach.

Breathe, Eren. Just, fucking breathe. 

How. And why. They were going to be okay, he and Armin. Finally, they were going to get over this. Seeing Levi made him feel an uncomfortable mix of relief, hatred, fear, and desire, all mixed together in a way he couldn’t explain.

God. Why had they come back. 

Hey heard the building door opening, and the soft patter of footsteps. 

“Hey kid.” Eren's head jerked up, and the short grey eyed man was next to him again. The younger man didn’t respond, just stared up at him with cold, teal eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

Eren responded with a “Tsk. Fuck off.” Rising to his feet he started to cut down a short alley in the direction of his car. He didn’t expect himself to react like this. He hadn’t been this angry in a long time. God, he was mad, but at the same time his heart was beating out of his chest to see Levi. It was like the words he had whispered to himself over and over every night were heard. Someone, somewhere, up above had heard his whispered plea. “Please just let me see him one more time.” It was everything he wanted and everything he didn't rushing into a straight up head on collision. He didn't know how to act. He was falling apart.

A small hand reached out and grabbed Eren’s coat. “Please. Can we talk?”

Eren snarled. He wasn’t in the talking mood. All the anger, pain, confusion and mixed emotions he had pushed down for months and months were rising to the surface. He never snapped like this, not anymore. He had done well to learn how to control his emotions. But now in this situation, he was breaking.

Eren turned and took another swing at the shorter man. This one Levi dodged easily, grabbing Eren’s arm and forcing him down to the ground with a simple krav maga move. 

“I don’t want to fight with you, Eren.” Levi whispered. 

Eren growled. “Don’t say my name like you know me.”

He swung his knee up, knocking the smaller man’s feet out from under them, bringing him down onto the dirty ground of the back alley with him. He followed up with a punch to Levi’s cheek, which left him spitting blood. 

"Christ, you’re like a wild dog.” The smaller man whispered. He loved it and hated it. The fact that Eren came out with his anger and pain immediately. there was no hiding, no fancy words, no passive aggressiveness. The anger he could handle. He could take a few punches to the face for what he'd done, he'd rather that then try to unravel mysteries and play mind games. Levi slammed Eren’s head into his knee, making him momentarily stunned. Eren wasn’t pulling any punches. He was at least going to return a couple of his own. They rolled around on the ground, kicking and punching each other, pulling hair and fighting like back alley brawlers. 

“God, I fucking hate you.” Eren grated. 

“Yeah, I fucking hate me too sometimes.” Levi muttered. 

The lobby door opened, and Erwin walked out. Looking to the side saw Eren and Levi beating each other into the pavement a few paces up a side alley. He wondered for a moment if he should step in, but decided against it. This was probably good. Really good, actually. Eren looked to have the upper hand because of his height, but Levi wasn’t even breaking a sweat. He was sure Levi could break Eren in two if he wanted, and was being extremely careful with him.

A few seconds later, Levi had pinned Eren down on his front and had his arm twisted behind his back. 

“Please listen to me.”

“Like hell I would listen to anything you have to say to me, you asshole.”

“Understandable.”

Eren wiggled around on the ground underneath him. “Let me the fuck go, you son of a bitch.”

“I’ll let you go, but please just listen to me, just for a second, Eren.” 

"I fucking hate it when you say my name, you bastard." Eren hated himself in that instance. He was like a rabid animal. Why was he so angry? He was broken. And, oh, shit. Shit. He was crying. 

Suddenly there was the vroom of a motorcycle pulling up next to the curb. The bike pulled up directly in front of the building and the fight, Armin stepping off, unzipping his leather jacket and pulling off his helmet.  He was greeted by the sight of Eren and Levi scuffling around on the ground, and Erwin standing beside the building dressed in jeans and a slate grey button down, his hair a little tousled from stress. His eyes met Armin’s just for a second. They both looked different from the first time they had met, in surprising ways that made both of their cheeks flush. Armin tore his gaze away, eyes meeting Eren’s.

“Shit.” Eren whispered. This is what he had been trying to prevent. He had wanted to keep Armin and Erwin apart. He had to protect him. He promised. 

Armin put his helmet on the back of his motorcycle, pulling his hair off his shoulders and twisting it up in its usual ponytail. 

As soon as Erwin saw him he started to advance toward him, but didn’t know what to say, so he reached out his hand.

“Don’t touch me.” Was the smaller blonde’s quiet response.

Erwin’s fingers were right next to the sleeve of Armin’s leather jacket. He curled his fingers in a little, but didn’t move his hand. 

“Keep your hands away from me, Commander.” He repeated, emphasizing the last word.

Erwin pulled his hand back. Armin could smell him. It was the amazing scent from before. The smell of the rain. He wanted it. God, he wanted him so badly. He was so handsome and perfect. Armin wanted nothing more than to curl up inside his arms again. Arms that were made specifically to cradle him. His emotions were a wash. Was he supposed to resist, or give in? That's what he had wanted. Every day. More than anything. And now that he was here, Armin was terrified of the thought. 

“My name’s Erwin.” He said, but Armin was looking at the ground and not at him.

“That’s a stupid name.” Armin mumbled, and Erwin gave a half smile. 

“Yes, it is. I didn’t choose it though. I probably would have chosen something easier and more romantic to say like, I don’t know, Antony or Liam. But who am I to say. Will you tell me your name?”

“No.”

“Will you please at least,” He moved two bent fingers under Armin’s chin, trying to tilt his face up to catch his gaze. “Look at me?”

Armin slapped his hand away from his face, more forcefully than he had meant to. It was more of a reaction than anything, and he could tell he surprised the taller man. “I told you not to fucking touch me.” He said quietly. 

“I’m sorry. I'm sorry." The larger blonde said, holding his hands up by his head. "I won’t touch you anymore unless you ask for it.” 

Armin turned, showing him his back.

“I’m sorry.” Erwin repeated.

“For what?”

“For leaving. For not saying goodbye. For treating you like you didn’t matter.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Erwin’s heart dropped into his stomach.

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying you’re sorry, you bastard. I’m leaving. Don’t follow me.”

Armin zipped up his coat and started walking down the street. Levi was on top of Eren, pressing his head into the ground roughly and whispering in his ear. The brunette’s chocolate locks were held tightly between the smaller man’s fingers while Eren struggled back and forth under Levi's effective pin, looking like an angry scorpion caught under the tip of a knife. Well, that’s one way to get him to listen. 

Erwin watched the smaller blonde walk down the street away from him hopelessly. He had told him not to follow, and not to touch him. He didn’t want him around. He didn't know what to do. 

Suddenly, he heard a shout from above him. “Hey, dillhole!” Hange and Mike were watching the show from their balcony two stories above. Hange’s hands were cupped around her mouth like a megaphone.

“What?” Erwin sighed. 

“He obviously wants you to follow him, dumbass, or else he would have left on his bike!”

Armin heard the commotion of Hange behind him and cracked a small smile. You’re too smart, Hange. Where would we be without you. 

Armin's emotions were jumbled. Part of him wanted Erwin to fall off the planet.  But the other part wanted Erwin to follow him, and talk to him, and say he was sorry a million times and hold him until everything felt better. It was that part that had stopped him from getting on his bike and riding away. Maybe it was weakness. Or hope. Or something. He didn’t know. All he knew was that he wanted...he needed Erwin.

He didn’t look over his shoulder, he knew the larger man was following him. His eyes glanced up at a neon sign a few paces in front of him. Yep, this will work. He turned to go into the old fashioned bar, letting the door swing shut behind him.

\--

“So.” Mike said, crossing his arms, looking at Hange. “This was your plan. Your feeling and intuition.” He said putting feeling and intuition in large air quotes.  


Hange crossed her arms victoriously. “Well, it did start out a little rough, a fight between the less intelligent ones, you know, the police, that wasn’t pretty....but it all straightened out in the end, and as you’ve noticed, neither of our houseguests...are at our house.”  


“Right. So you really think your happy plan worked and they are all happily together now like you predicted.”  


Hange nodded. “Most definitely.”  


“Doubtful. Oh, and also, we’re getting fined for all the blood in the back alley.”  


“Whatever. Levi can pay it. It’s mostly his, I’m sure." 

There was silence between them for awhile, looking out at the city night lights. Hange sighed contentedly. “Well, I am completely certain no one is coming back tonight, so sad after we worked so hard on Armin’s cake, too." 

Mike shrugged, turning to go back inside. "Well, whatever. Lets go eat cake in bed." 

"Hey, good idea! That special about communicable diseases is on the Discovery Channel." Hange vibrated in excitement.

Mike rolled his eyes in a silent show of whatever, and they went inside, sliding the door shut behind them.


	10. This Is Just A Second Excuse To Misuse The Word "Interlude"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! I had originally planned to tack this on to the beginning of the next chapter, which takes off exactly where chapter 9 left off, but it was getting pretty long so I decided to put it out on its own. I hope to have chapter 11 out in a couple days for you guys, I hope you are enjoying reading this as much as I enjoy writing it <3
> 
> This is the story of how Levi and Erwin ended up in York, and what happened to the Trost.

Five days earlier

Erwin stood in the command center of the Trost, the ship rocking back and forth as it was hit repeatedly with missiles and torpedoes.

“Return fire.” He took the wheel, steering the ship, setting them on a course toward something...anything. There was nothing. They were in the middle of the ocean, getting attacked by an enemy from nowhere. For the first time in a long time, Erwin was actually afraid.

Wreckage of the Trost floated freely in the waters beside the ship. The vessel was getting blown apart. He watched through the window as a navy plane went down in a fiery blaze, crashing into the water, while a pointed black aircraft that looked almost alien in nature chased the burning plane’s trajectory and plunged into the water, disappearing under the surface.

Invisible missiles and underwater planes. Things like this didn’t exist.

“Commander, we were able to get a reading on the enemy crafts. It appears that the missiles and planes are all coming from underneath us.” Bertholdt stammered, not believing his own words.

Another blast rocked the boat, throwing Bertholdt into Erwin, knocking them both to the ground.

“I could believe anything was possible right now.” Erwin said. “Is the distress signal active?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Very good. Thank you Bertholdt.”

‘We’re going to capsize if we take much more of this.’ Erwin thought to himself.

Bertholdt stood looking out the window at the commotion, chewing on one thumbnail in a mix of helplessness and fear.

“Do you have something you’d like to say, Bertholdt?” Erwin asked, looking up at the large display board in the command center which showed the different parts of the ship. Several areas on the diagram were lit up in red, showing critical damage to that area on the vessel. They were taking in water continuously on the lower levels, and had sustained significant damage in the engine room as well. 

“Commander, may I," Bertholdt stopped mid thought as if he didn't know what he wanted to say. "...Permission to fly again, sir. I’d like to be in the air helping out my fellow soldiers.” Bertholdt had been in pararescue before being promoted to his current duty by Erwin’s side. Erwin was more than happy to give him the chance to do the thing he really loved, even if it was one last time.

“Permission granted. Although, I’m not sure what sort of shape the flight deck is in.”

Bertholdt nodded. “I’ll take my chances.”

“Good luck, lieutenant.”

Bertholdt reached out his hand to Erwin. “It’s been an honor serving under you, Commander.”

Erwin swallowed at the finality of his statement. “Thank you for your service.” They shook hands, and Bertholdt left, making his way to the upper decks. “Good luck.” Erwin murmured again.

He gripped the command wheel with white knuckles, another blast rocking the ship, causing a new area on the display board to flash red, showing critical damage near the second level. ‘Not sure if we’re going to make it out of this one, Levi.’ Was all Erwin could think.

\--

The air was full of smoke, and the enemies were invisible on their radar. They were trying to attempt the impossible with this air battle.

Levi and James had spent the last few minutes shooting down the missiles coming out of the water aimed for the Trost, and had saved the ship many critical hits.

“Those missiles always come from the same place. It’s like they’re almost on a timer or something, and just hit whatever’s closest once they get to the surface. If the Trost pulls away from this area, maybe they won’t be able to get her.” Levi said.

James nodded, relaying the information to the command deck.

“Commander Smith says we’re moving as fast as we can right now. Our engines are shot to shit.”

The ship slowly chugged away from where the missiles were surfacing from as the black planes continued to swooped up out of the sea, leaving a splash of water in their wake as they pummeled the navy birds with a hail of powerful bullets. Levi’s plane was struck in the side and the blast rocked the small jet, an alarm in the back of the aircraft starting to blare as the cabin filled with smoke.

“It’s time to suit up.” Levi directed to James. I can’t see shit in this and we won’t stand another hit like that.”

Both of the pilots stripped out of their jumpsuits, pulled into specially made diving suits, and packed on large oblong backpacks which buckled between their legs and secured with multiple straps over their chest. Masks came from the backpack and covered their faces, and they kicked off their combat boots, trading them for some diving flippers.

“Christ. This is what we trained for but I didn’t think I would have to do it in the middle of a futuristic sky battle.” James murmured, checking his gear as he adjusted his mask. 

“Yeah.” Levi murmured. If I’m being honest, I’m fucking terrified.” He had been through plenty of frightening experiences before, but this was something new.

“Same.” His partner agreed.

“This is not how I expected today to go when I got up this morning.” Levi said as he adjusted his flippers, making sure everything was on tight.

“Yeah. Levi...Levi!”

“Eject. Now, James!”

It was an instant later that a group of missiles hit their plane. James saw them coming only moments before, and the two ejected from their small craft, feeling the heat of their aircraft exploding as they fell away from it. They fell quickly, seeing the debris all around them. Pieces of planes were splintering and falling from the sky, and the below water was filled with sharp pointed objects of all sizes. Part of the sea below them was on fire, an enormous oil spill was alit with hot orange flames that shot up 10 feet into the sky. The two pilots pulled their parachutes to slow their descent, then immediately cut them off as they got closer to the choppy ocean waves. Pointing their flippers and holding their masks, they plunged into the murky depths, surrounded by the debris, fire and bodies.

Explosions were going off around them as they dove underneath the wreck, using the special diving equipment strapped on their backs. They saw that down far below, missiles were coming up from the water, travelling through clear piping as if being guided toward the surface from some secret loading station. The piping went down deep, disappearing into the darkness of the water. The small black planes were coming up from the depths of the water as well, also from the direction of the clear piping.

Far beneath the waves, Levi and James saw an enemy submarine and swam to it. They wrenched open the outside hatch in order to drown the inside occupants, and the submarine immediately filled with water. When they swam down inside, however, the submarine was empty. It was completely unmanned, powered somehow remotely.  
James and Levi stared around them empty vessel. Could this day get any weirder.

Suddenly, there was a huge black shadow above them, blocking out the sunlight, making the water a little chillier. It was the shadow of another ship. As if on command, the small black planes dove down back into the water, cutting closely past James and Levi at a high rate of speed propelling into the depths of the dark water below. The submarine they were inside of began automatically heading toward the unmarked blackness, in the same direction as the planes.

Everything had stopped. No more missiles, no more aircrafts, no more torpedoes.  Another ship had heard their distress call, The Sina. It was an enormous battleship, smaller than the Trost but faster, well armed and ready for battle.

It pulled up next to the Trost and attached tow cables to the battered Aircraft carrier.  After awhile of getting everything attached, a gangplank was laid between the two ships.  
A man in a well kept outfit similar to Erwin’s: a black jacket, white pants and hat, boarded the ship with an entourage behind him. His jacket was more decorated than Erwin's showing off many medals and ribbons he had won from various this and that. He was an older, thinner man, with a thin build and dark hair. Erwin had moved down onto the very askew flight deck to greet the other commander, the crew gathering around him as the water rose inside the ship, further causing the vessel to tilt. The two men recognized each other immediately, and the older man gave Erwin a smile.

“Commander Erwin Smith. I see you’ve been taking good care of the ship I gave you.” He said, as the two men approached each other, clasping hands.

“Admiral Nile Dok.” He said, greeting the familiar man. “Fancy meeting you here. You wouldn’t have happened to be following us, would you?”

Nile gave a shrug. “I can’t say that I wasn’t expecting something like this. No use in being prepared.”

“You knew this would happen?”

“It’s a long story. We’ll discuss it some time while we’re not standing on a sinking ship.”

Erwin nodded, a sick feeling in his gut. He hadn’t seen any sign of Levi.

“Please have your crew evacuate from the Trost to the Sina. We’ll give you a tow, for what it’s worth. Not sure if they’ll be able to put your girl back together after all that, though.” Nile said looking at the ship.

The men from Erwin’s ship hurried over to the Sina, and rescue teams were put together to sweep the ship to look for lost and injured crewmates, while other teams got in lifeboats to move around the wreckage, looking for survivors in the water.

“How many are missing?” Erwin asked.

“48.” A crewmen replied.

“48?” Erwin repeated the large number with disbelief.

“Commander, hardly any of the pilots are accounted for.”

“Keep looking.”

The water was murky and filled with wreckage from the battle. Fire and oil still covered parts of the surface of the water, making it perilous to travel in and hazardous for anyone in it. After a long search, lasting nearly the whole day, they were able to rescue 14 men caught inside the ship and 11 of the skilled pilots floating among the debris. They also recovered numerous bodies of deceased soldiers to take home to be given a proper funeral. Bertholdt's bodies was in the number recovered, it appeared he lost his life when his plane exploded, given the burn marks on his body. 

It was getting later at night and neither Levi nor his partner had been found.

“We need to leave this place, Erwin.” Nile said quietly. “I know you’re waiting for Levi, but if they haven’t found him after looking all day, then I’m sorry. There’s probably nothing left to find.” 

Erwin gritted his teeth. He was right. Dozens of pilots had died that day. His lieutenant, his subordinates, all capable soldiers. People died in war. Levi could have been blown to pieces, or crashed without ejecting, his plane lost to the sea. Either way, there’d be no body to recover. 

Please, Levi, don’t go. Don’t leave me like this. At least give me your body to cling to. Let me know what happened.

Erwin nodded at his superior officer, swallowing thickly. “I just need a minute.”

Erwin went over to the railing of the Sina. The wreckage from the battle had begun to float away, spreading itself out across the sea. He watched the Trost, half sunken and full of holes, haphazardly bob while attached to tow lines. He dropped to his knees, holding with both hands to the railing, finally laying his head back and letting out a frustrated, angry sob.

A small voice spoke from beside him. “Jeez. Keep it down, will you? So noisy. Some of us had a rough day.”

It was Levi. He recognized his voice immediately and whipped around to see him. James was nearby, finishing his ascent up the anchor chain and wiggling like a fish through the large hole in the side of the ship the chain ran through. 

They were both dripping wet and pruny, dressed only in soaking wet diving suits and barefoot.

“What?” Erwin breathed. “Levi?” He gasped, reaching for the small man, as if unsure if Levi was real.

“Yeah, its me. We made it.” 

Erwin scrambled from his position on the ground and grabbed the soaking wet man, who looked even smaller with his bare feet, dripping hair and diving suit sticking to his small body. “God, Levi, I thought I lost you.” He squeezed Levi’s body in an uncharacteristically loving way, and Levi wrapped his small, tired arms back around his blonde commander.

“Never. I couldn't leave you here alone, You’d be lost without me.” 

Erwin squeezed Levi tight, leaning down and discreetly resting his lips on the top of Levi’s head in a kiss. 

“Sorry we’re late. We found a submarine. It was unmanned and we had to check it out. We wanted to figure out where it came from, but it went down so deep, we almost couldn't get back up without running out of air.” James chimed in, ruining the moment. 

Erwin and James looked at each other.

“What do you mean, an unmanned submarine?” Erwin asked.

“We saw things, under the water. The submarine was remotely piloted. And the missiles and planes, were all coming from a common area under the water. I think there’s an underwater lab or something.” Levi finished. 

“Sounds like a sci-fi movie. I think you’ve been reading too many comic books, Captain Ackerman. And where are your shoes?” a voice bellowed from behind Erwin, which Levi recognized immediately. 

“Oh, it’s you.” Levi said unenthused, looking around Erwin to see Nile. “I know it sounds crazy but I know what I saw. And I know you believe me. Why else would you, Nile Dok, captain of the Navy’s special forces, be all the way out here? And another thing, I had to get rid of my flippers to climb up that big ass chain. Bugger off.” 

Nile smirked. “Well, glad to see you alive again, Levi. And perhaps you’re right, I did suspect something like this, and am glad I was here to see this in action. We’ll talk more about that later. For now, let’s get this old girl back to York. Not even sure if the experts can put her back together after that, but we'll see what they have to say about all this damage.” He said, looking from Levi and Erwin to the Trost.

"Back to York?" Erwin asked. 

"Yes."

"Home." Levi whispered.


	11. Flying and Falling Are The Same Until The Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was rough for me. I'm really invested in the characters in this story am am trying so hard to make them stay true to themselves. I hope I did them justice in this chapter. I had originally written this completely different, with Eren doing exactly what he says he ISN'T going to do in the first few paragraphs, but I hated the feel of it and wasn't sure I would be able to pull he and Levi's relationship back after that one. I hope this all checks out and is believable for you, because things are about to get...real. 
> 
> As always, thank you so much for the likes and comments. You all are amazing!
> 
> This chapter begins directly after chapter 9. It's split into two parts, one with Eren and Levi and one with Erwin and Armin. I tried to switch back and forth between the two for the chapter and it just got way too confusing so it's basically cut in half. Hope that makes sense. This is all happening simultaneously, the night before Armin's birthday.

Eren stood in his room, his towel around his waist. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins as he set his phone on the nightside stand.

He could hear the shower in Armin’s bathroom still running. Levi was in there, washing the blood off of himself from their fight. God. He had been so angry. When a couple beat cops came to break up their brawl, Eren was basically a rabid dog. Snarling, shouting at Levi. He looked at his knuckles. Although they were washed clean now, they were still scraped from the confrontation. He remembered what they had looked like just an hour ago, painted with Levi’s blood. 

Levi had clung to him, blood streaming down the side of his face asking, “What do I have to do to prove to you how sorry I am.”

Eren had grabbed him by the jacket lapels and whispered roughly, “Give me your body.”

And somehow they had ended up here. In his house. With Levi in his shower.

Eren had taken a shower and it had cooled him off, he was thinking straight again. He bit into his lip, closing his eyes, wishing that the last few hours had been just a nightmare. 

What the fuck, Eren. ‘Give me your body?’ He was embarrassed, and upset at himself. He couldn’t believe he had said that, or any of the terrible things he had said to Levi. He had said horrible untrue things and sworn at him like he was an enemy. All Levi had wanted was to talk. He hadn't approached him with any sort of hostility at all. 

And then he himself had behaved like a total lunatic.

What had he planned on doing, bringing Levi home? Ah, he remembered. He went to his tall mahogany wardrobe and opened the large door to look at his collection. Crops, whips, handcuffs, gags, ropes, collars, whips... everything deviant and dirty. 

He sighed, chewing on his bottom lip. Fuck, he was crazy. What was he thinking? Had he actually been planning on using these on Levi in a fit of rage? That would have gone over well.  There was no way he would ever lay a hand on Levi after the outburst he had just had. He didn’t deserve to touch Levi. He didn’t even deserve to look at him, not after the way he had just treated him. No. He couldn’t be around him. He hated himself. 

He had practically dragged the older man here. No, he literally had dragged him, which could actually constitute as kidnapping. God, he was a monster. He needed to leave, maybe he should just go and leave the man his car keys. He could take care of himself, right?

God fucking dammit, he was an asshole. 

\--

Levi finally exited the bathroom, wearing a pair of Armin’s black mesh workout pants that clung to his hips, trying hard to stay up on his petite figure. The front door was open, letting in a chilly breeze that raised goosebumps across Levi’s wet skin, his damp hair periodically sending small droplets of water running down his toned frame.

Eren was standing outside on the balcony, his car keys in one hand, an unlit cigarette in his mouth. He was fully dressed in jeans, tennis shoes, and a long sleeved shirt and jacket. Levi was immediately confused at the change of demeanor.

The small man walked toward the front door, standing on the inside of the apartment, looking out at Eren on the deck. He stayed inside in just his borrowed sweat pants, burrowing his toes into the soft carpet. 

“I’ll take you back to Hange’s.” Eren said quietly, not wanting to look at Levi’s face, partially because he knew he had landed a few hard hits to it and didn’t want to know what he had done, also just because he didn’t want to look him in the eyes. What look would Levi show him? Hurt? Disgust? Hatred?

“What, why?” Levi said in surprise, his voice smooth. “You just dragged me all the way here by the hair and now you’re going to send me away?”

Eren clenched his teeth, grabbing the cigarette out of his mouth and throwing it on the ground. He hated that he had done that. Shit. He was a monster. 

He went back inside to get his phone out of the bedroom and Levi followed him, shutting the front door behind them.

“I’m sorry. Please, just forgive me. I told you I would do anything you wanted to make it up to you. What do you need from me to show you that I mean it?” Levi asked, as he caught up to Eren in the bedroom, grabbing onto his coat with his small hand.

“Please, Levi. I need you to go.” the younger man said. This time there was no hostility in his voice, only sadness.

The elder man was confused. He grabbed the brunette’s chin, turning his swimming, teal gaze toward him as he pushed the taller man back against the bed, Eren sitting down dejectedly with a plop. 

“Do you really want me to go?”

Eren nodded.

“Why?”

Mediterranean eyes met with gunpowder grey orbs for the first time. Eren’s eyes scanned over the narrow face, taking in an ugly purple bruising around Levi’s chin and a cut above his left ear.

“I couldn't control myself. I got angry. I hurt you.” Eren replied, his fingers ghosting over the bruising on Levi's chin.

“You deserved to get a little angry at me, kid. I was an asshole and treated you terribly.”

Eren shook his head. “No, no. There’s no excuse. I never should have laid a hand on you, no matter how mad I was.” He said, clenching his teeth together. “If I can't control my own body then no one’s safe around me. I’m not better than Jean.”

He gently moved Levi’s hand away from his face. “Please, just get your stuff and I can take you back to stay with Hange and Mike, okay? Before you regret being here with me. I could have really done something bad to you.”

Eren picked up his car keys and phone and moved into the hallway outside the bedroom.  Levi wasn’t following him, however, instead, he had turned around and was gazing inside of the large wardrobe Eren had left open. 

Shit.

Levi turned back to him, walking a few paces and leaning up against the doorframe in the bedroom, looking at Eren who was a couple steps down the hall.

“I don’t think you would have been able to hurt me kid, really. But you were pretty crazy.”

“I know. I was like a fucking rabid dog. I haven’t been like that in forever. I can’t be. If I’m like that then Armin will never feel safe around me. I don’t even feel safe around myself, and I don’t deserve to be around you. I didn’t ask you even why you were here in York or when you got here, all I thought about was myself and my needs. I was out of control.”

Levi pondered for a minute, mulling over Eren’s words. Control. This was about control.

“You know what, kid, you have a mean swing and you got a couple good hits in. But I honestly don’t think you would be able to seriously wound even if you wanted. I’m a soldier. So don’t sweat it.”

Eren cringed, still thinking about the fact that he had actually hit Levi. 

“It’s true, you were like an animal tonight. Like a crazy, raging beast. Do you know what happens to beasts?”

“They’re hated by everyone and get put down.”

Levi shrugged. “Well, that’s only if they can’t be trained properly by their masters.”

Eren swallowed, then swallowed again.

“What?”

“You heard me. You’re an animal, Eren. I just think you need someone to teach you a little control. Someone to train you, don’t you think?”

Eren trembled and somehow found himself moving down the hallway toward Levi. He got to him in the bedroom, and Levi reached up and ran two fingers over Eren’s bottom lip.

“But how?” Eren whispered, Levi slipping his fingers into Eren’s mouth as he asked the question.

“How would someone teach you control?” Levi grabbed Eren’s chin, tilting teal eyes down to gaze into serious, silver slits. “By taking it all away.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Eren stumbled quietly.

“Would you like me to explain it to you, or would you like me to show you?” Levi asked, holding up a thin piece of leather with a buckle on it. A shiver ran up Eren’s spine. A collar. 

“Yes.” He whispered. Was he insinuating what Eren thought he was?

“Yes which one?”

“Yes, show me.” Eren answered, and Levi smiled. 

“Very well. Undress.”  Levi commanded. Eren stood there in shock.

“Do not make me ask twice.” the dark haired man said firmly. Eren immediately hurried to strip out of the clothes he had just put on to take Levi to Hange’s, leaving them in a pile on the floor with his phone and keys on top.  Guess he wasn’t going anywhere. 

Levi was rummaging through the large armoire, humming approvingly at Eren’s collection. He took out a variety of fairly tame objects: restraints, a blindfold, a ball gag and a crop, as well as a long vibrator, a pair of vibrating eggs, strawberry smelling lube and a handful of condoms. He threw the choices on the edge of the bed, adding lastly to the pile a length of rope and a black silicone cock ring, the pile making Eren gape.

Eren had stripped down to his boxers and was standing waiting for further instruction, practically vibrating in anticipation. 

“I thought I told you to strip.” Levi said, looking at Eren’s underwear. Eren shimmied out of them quickly, a small blush on his face, even though Levi had seen him naked before.

“Good. Get on your knees and put your hands behind your back.” Levi said, in a silky deep voice that made Eren weak. He dropped to his knees immediately, putting his hands behind his back.

Levi knelt in front of him, taking Eren’s chin in his hand and gazing deeply into his eyes. “I will ask you this one time. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Eren nodded. 

“Say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”

“Yes. Yes, God, I want this.” Eren breathed.

Levi smiled. “Good.” He picked the collar, the blindfold, and the pair of thick restraints up, showing them to Eren. He buckled the simple black fur lined collar around his throat, checking for tightness. “Do you see this collar? Levi asked, grabbing Eren by the collar now clipped around his neck, “This means you belong to me.” He said roughy, his voice going a little deeper and raspier, making Eren absolutely thrilled. “Do you understand?”

Eren nodded. 

“Say yes.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good. What are your safe words, pet?” 

Eren responded, “Green for if I’m doing well, Yellow for if I need to slow down or pause, and Red for if I need to stop.”

“And if your mouth is full?”

“Then I snap once for green, twice for yellow, and for red, three times.”

“Very good. Now. You will not speak unless you’re spoken to. You will not cum without permission. You will not touch yourself or me unless you’re told to. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Eren breathed. Yes, God, yes.

Are you going to be a good boy for me, Eren?” Levi asked, as he fastened the restraints around Eren’s forearms, binding them together tightly behind his back and pulling his shoulders back, leaving his chest exposed.

“Aah. Yes. Yes sir.”

He slipped the blindfold over Eren’s beautiful eyes, shrouding his world in darkness. “Mm. Good.” 

Eren heard the sound of Levi’s pants slipping easily from his hips and pooling on the ground. He bit into his cheek, wishing he could see Levi’s beautiful, naked figure that he knew was right front of him. 

Levi’s hand was under his face, cradling his jaw. He gave him one soft, sensual kiss on the neck behind the ear, making Eren shudder, before whispering, "I’ll give you my body, Eren. All of it.”

\--

Levi couldn’t stand it. The feelings, the sights, the sounds, they were already too much for him, and the night had only just begun. Eren was kneeling on the ground, his hands restrained behind him, blindfolded, with a leather collar around his tan, beautiful, swan-like neck. Levi gripped the younger man's thick, chocolate hair with both hands, snapping his hips and plunging his cock down Eren’s throat, while he was helpless to stop it. Drool was coming out the sides of the brunette’s mouth and he was moaning around Levi’s member, which was effectively choking him as he took it in to the hilt each time, his swollen lips and nose pressed against Levi’s dark, well kept pubic hair.

Levi didn’t say much. He wanted to seem strong and in control. He was glad Eren was blindfolded so he couldn’t see what a panting mess he had become, watching his bound lover. Eren was the one restrained, but he had Levi completely under his spell already. He was so beautiful.

Levi let one small moan escape from his lips as he fully sheathed his cock in the brunette's throat and felt him swallow around it, feeling his tight throat muscles clench around the tip. It was amazing. He pulled out again, continuing the rough pace, loving the sight of Eren's back arching as he gagged on his length.

Levi wrapped his fingers under Eren’s collar, pulling him up higher, stretching out his torso and showcasing his already hard and red dick which was leaking precum onto his bent legs. God, Eren.

He felt his release coming, and he fucked Eren’s throat even harder, relishing the sound of Eren’s moans being muffled by his manhood and the saliva that was now dripping down from his lips to the floor.

With one last deep thrust, he shot his load down Eren’s throat, feeding him streams of cum from his long neglected cock. Pulling out at the last moment, he splash the last bit of cum across Eren’s cheek and chin. 

“Good boy. Did you like that?” Levi asked, as he pulled out, gently petting Eren’s shaggy head. 

“Yes. Yes sir.” the younger man panted, gasping for air and trying to catch his breath. Levi dried himself with Eren’s nearby shirt and pulled his pants back up on his hips, then turned his attention back to his lover.

“And what do you say?” He asked, taking some of the cum from Eren’s chin on his thumb and feeding it to him, “What do you say when someone gives you something nice?” 

“Thank you very much, sir.”

Eren was intoxicating. His flushed cheeks, swollen lips. Levi wondered what Eren was feeling. If he was as drunk on the situation already as he himself was.

“Very good. Now lean up over the bed, pet.” Levi instructed, pulling Eren up by the middle and bending him over the side of the bed.  Eren heard Levi picking something up, then he felt something tight slide down around his dripping, throbbing length. 

“Wait, no, please.” 

“Do you need to use your safe word?” Levi asked, hoping the answer was no, since they were only getting started.

“No, sir.”

“Then no talking. Or there will be consequences.” 

Levi tightened the cock ring around the bottom of Eren’s shaft, the brunette letting out a needy moan. 

“Are you going to be good for me, Eren?” Levi asked again, splaying his fingers and running his hand up Eren's beautiful back. 

“Yes.” Eren breathed, Levi biting his lip in ecstasy as he saw his splash of cum still resting on Erens cheek and lip.

Eren heard the sound of a bottle opening, and then felt a cold, wet finger circling his vulnerable hole. It teased him for a moment, only touching and circling, then slowly began pushing into him, the room smelling like tart strawberries. 

“Aah, Levi!” Eren yelled as Levi began moving his finger in and out of him, keeping it shallow, only pushing in to about the second knuckle.  

“Levi, more...please.” 

Eren heard a crack and felt a sharp sting on his leg, where Levi had snapped him with the riding crop on his upper thigh. He let out a surprised whimper. 

Levi inserted a second finger along side the first, stretching his lover wider, but keeping both of the fingers impossibly shallow, teasing him slowly, in all attempts to drive him absolutely crazy. “More, please, Levi.” the brunette whined again. 

The ravenette shook his head. “Fine. I warned you. Open your mouth.” He said.

“What? Le--mph” Eren’s question was cut off as he was silenced immediately, Levi stuffing a ball gag into his mouth and buckling it around the back of his head. He had loved hearing Eren’s sweet, needy moaning, but watching him completely bound, blindfolded and gagged at his mercy made a shiver run through him. God. Amazing. 

“Remember, pet, I make the rules tonight.” He said, giving Eren another snap on the hip with the crop, causing Eren to cry out into the ball gag in the most sensual way. He continued to tease him with just the tips of his two fingers, finally adding a third, making Eren gasp and dig his fingernails into his forearms. He moved closer and closer to his prostate, stopping just short of it, and Eren moaned into the gag while he bucked against the bed, each buck rubbing his sensitive, dripping cock against the duvet, smearing precum down the side of the comforter, but his release being prevented by the cock ring squeezing him tightly. 

Levi needed to be inside of him. But he could wait, just a while longer.

He lifted Eren’s body up, and hauled him completely on the bed, stacking up the pillows to rest his upper body on, and spreading his bent legs, giving him full, unhindered access to Eren’s tight ass. 

Perfect.

Levi pulled his fingers out of his lover, then picked up the long purple vibrator and slicked it up with lubricant. He turned it on, listening to its low, consistent buzzing sound.

He saw Eren trembling in anticipation. 

“Eren, tell me your color.” Levi said, as he readied the object behind Eren. 

Eren snapped once for green. 

“Very good, pet.” Levi crooned, as he slowly began inserting the large, ribbed vibrator into the younger man. 

As soon as it began to enter him, he moaned wantonly, the vibrating object about the size and shape of Levi. The older man carefully guided the object all the way in, then slowly pulled out, then pushed back in again, the vibrating shaking Eren, shooting pleasure through his whole body. Levi moved faster, fucking him with the long object, making him throw his head back and sob into the gag, begging for the release that wouldn’t come.

“Fuck.” Levi whispered, despite himself.

Eren was so beautiful at his mercy like this. Levi wanted to drive him just to the edge of pleasure, where he couldn’t handle it anymore, and he and Eren would take the plunge over the edge together into darkness.

The brunette was sobbing into his gag with each thrust of the vibrator, Levi’s body lined up behind Eren’s now, one hand grasping the younger man's thigh as he used the vibrator roughly as if it were his own member. Levi found Eren’s prostate, and ran the vibrator over it, moving it around it from all different angles, making Eren’s body fall apart.

Eren’s hands were clenched tightly, fingernails digging deeply into his hands as another jolt sailed through his body, and he snapped his finger twice. Levi immediately pulled the object from Eren, moving the ball gag free from his mouth.

“Are you okay?”

“I can’t...sir, please...I need to cum. Please.” Eren trembled, saliva dripping from the gag onto his sheets.

“Okay.” Levi said, slowly sliding the ring off his swollen, throbbing member, he reached underneath where Eren was bent over and took his cock in his hand, pumping it gently, Eren’s back arching, and praises tumbling from his lips. 

“Yes, ah...thank you sir. Please, yes...like that...oh my god…ah!” He grunted out as his cum shot forward, splashing across the duvet underneath him.

Levi licked up Eren’s back, still holding his lover's swollen member in his hand, gently caressing it with his thumb. He nibbled on his shoulders a bit, while the brunette panted, being able to breathe without the ball gag blocking his mouth.

“Are you ready to continue, pet?” He asked after a bit, and the brunette nodded. “Yes, thank you. I’m sorry sir.”

The older man moved his lips down Eren’s toned, tan body, starting at his shoulders and moving down to the top of his ass. His back was so beautiful, his perfect back dimples and toned shoulders. He suckled on a small place at the small of his back while he shoved the first and then the second vibrating eggs inside of him, then carefully secured the ball gag again before turning them on. 

Eren automatically jolted, gasping as the two eggs vibrated around inside of him, one directly on his prostate.

“I love the sounds you make, pet.” Levi said, running his hands through Eren’s hair. 

He wanted Eren so badly. He wanted to make him moan and keen like this with his own hands and lips and cock. He would. But he could wait just a little while longer. He loved taking Eren apart like this. He was so beautiful. So much more beautiful than anything he had ever imagined.

Eren arched his back crying out into the gag, his arms shaking. He moaned out a low, guttural moan that sounded like a muffled “Levi” and it made the ravenette shake. God, Eren. 

“You’re so beautiful, pet. But I have some things to do, so why don’t you just stay here for awhile. Don't come while I'm away, alright? I'll have to punish you, then.”

He got up from the bed, and pushing Eren over on his side he tied his ankles together with the rope, the younger man still keening and moaning from the eggs vibrating inside of him. 

“Don’t go anywhere.” Levi said, as he got up, leaving Eren alone in the middle of the bed. 

He stood, breathless in the room, watching Eren. Hands bound behind him, ankles tied together, blindfolded and gagged, laying on his side, his knees bent up a little, as every so often he would tremble from the vibration inside of him. His hair was tousled and his almond skin was sheened with sweat. 

So beautiful. 

The cum dripped from his cock down between his legs as he tried hard to satisfy himself, but couldn’t since he couldn’t move his arms or his legs. He just shuddered, the pleasure wracking his body and he was helpless to fight it. He was so enticing.

He heard Eren moan something as his back arched and body jolted. He looked so enraptured with pleasure, if Levi wasn’t supposed to be the one in charge right now, he was sure he would have cum in his pants.

Something strange happened then. It was something Levi hadn’t seen before. Eren’s pleasured groans turned into something else entirely. His breath quickened, and turned into short, whimpered gasps. He yanked his knees up to his chest, like he was trying to undo the ropes around his ankles with his hands, but couldn’t reach from the position of his body. He was panicking. Why? Should he step in? Eren hadn’t give him a sign.

Then he heard it. The snapping. One, two, three. Red.

Levi dashed across the room onto the bed, tearing off Eren’s blindfold first, and then his gag, his hands making quick work of his other restraints and collar once he had Eren’s eyes on his. 

“Look at me. Look at me.” Levi said, grabbing Eren’s chin, and pulling it to look at him. “Look at me. Eren. Are you hurt?”

Levi ran his hands down Eren’s arms as he undid the restraints and Eren wiped the corner of his eye with the back of his hand, Levi gently pulling the eggs out from inside of him and shutting them off.

“Sorry. I just couldn’t hear you anymore. I panicked because I thought you left...”

“Why would I-”

. “...again.” 

Eren’s sentence made Levi clench his jaw shut, not sure what to say. 

“Haha, sorry. Now I made things weird.” Eren said, his voice hoarse from the gag. He was wiping his other eye with the back of his hand as he moved to get out of the bed.

Levi reached his hand out, wrapping his fingers gently around Eren's wrist, which was red from the restraints. 

“Eren, please look at me.” 

Eren turned to look at Levi timidly.

“I’m sorry about what happened. But I promise, I’ll never do something like that to you again. And I’m sorry if I hurt you tonight.”

Eren shook his head. “You didn’t hurt me. I just panicked for some reason.  I liked it. I really did.”

Levi went back over to the armoire, and came back simply with a pair of metal handcuffs. 

“Do you want to try something else, then? Something different. I won't leave. I won't even blindfold you. You'll see me the whole time.” 

Eren nodded and said quietly. “Yeah, okay." 

Levi moved to him, gently buckling the simple handcuffs around his wrists in front of his body.

"Levi..." 

"Yeah, Eren?" 

"Can I wear the collar again?" Eren asked shyly, touching his bare neck. 

Levi smiled, picking the small piece of leather up and looping it around Eren's neck he secured it, then used it to pull Eren over to his art desk. He sat Eren down on the edge of his desk, then looked over Eren's shoulder at the paintings strewn across the wooden surface. 

“Wow, looks like you’re kind of obsessed with someone.” Levi said teasingly, looking over Eren’s paintings of a black undercut, silver eyes, and a small man in a flight suit.

Eren blushed dark red. “It’s--”’

He didn’t know what to say. Levi leaned in, gently taking hold of Eren's bound hands and looping them around his neck. 

“You’re so cute.” He whispered, as their lips finally connected, tongues sliding against one another. Eren was his. Their kisses heated up, turning into little bites that they left down the side of each other’s neck, Eren deeply biting in to the porcelain flesh on Levi’s shoulder.

“Levi.” He whispered. That was all he said, but it sent a rush of arousal through the smaller man’s body. 

“I need to be inside you, Eren.” Levi responded, and Eren shivered, a moment later yanking Levi into his arms and pulling them onto the bed.

The smaller man let his sweatpants drop off as he rolled a condom on, slicking up his already painfully hard member. He sat on his knees, putting Eren in front of him in the same position, and sank Eren down into his lap backward, sliding his dick into him. Eren trembled, crying out as Levi looped Eren’s bound hands around the back of his neck, leaving his whole front of his body exposed for his hands to play with. Levi sucked and licked at Eren’s neck while one hand reached up, twisting and playing with Eren's nipples, and the other grabbed onto Eren's cock, jerking it hard as he lifted his hips, pounding into Eren's prostate deeply. 

“Aah, yes, Levi, please!” He yelled out, his voice raspy as his bound hands jolted in the handcuffs, his fingers threading through Levi’s undercut. The triple stimulation was too much for him, having Levi take him so hard from behind while playing with his cock and nipples, he was sure he wasn't going to last long. 

"Levi st-stop, I'll cum, stop!" 

Levi pulled the one hand away from his cock and slid it up his chest, using both hands to twist and play with Eren's pert red nipples, making him trill. The hand moved up higher, feeling the collar around Eren's neck. So beautiful. You are mine, Eren. Only mine. 

Levi pushed Eren forward into doggy style and thrust into his prostate mercilessly, making Eren scream his name.“Yes, Levi, aah, Levi, more!” Eren screamed out, and Levi wrapped his arm around Eren’s fine waist, grabbing his hard cock, jerking it again.

"Levi, stop, I'll come! I'm coming!” Eren gasped. With a beautiful arch of his back, his whole body shuddered and he came on the duvet for a second time. Levi finished a moment later still thrusting into Eren. Eren collapsed on the dirtied duvet, and Levi pulled out, collapsing on top of him. 

“Eren.” He whispered, kissing the boy’s beautiful back.

\--

A few minutes later they were in the bathtub together, feeling the steaming hot water on their skin.

“I’m sorry.” Eren whispered. 

“I’m sorry too.” Levi replied, as they kissed each other gently, legs crossed over each others in the hot, bubbly water.

“Do you want to start over? From the beginning?” Eren asked with a timid smile.

Levi smiled. “Yeah. That’s a good idea.”

“Hi. I’m Eren Jaeger. I’m 25 years old. I am employed as a model and a graphics designer, but I want to be an artist. I live with my best friend and our pet snake Ropter. One sister, No family to speak of other than her.”

“Hello there Eren Jaeger, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Levi Ackerman. I’m 38 years old…”

“38 holy shit!” Eren exploded, and Levi shot him a death glare. “I know, right. I’m literally almost over the hill.”

“Sorry,” Eren said with a blush, “What else about you?”

“I’m a Captain in the Navy. I’ve lived at sea for the majority of my life. My family would be Mike, Hange, and Erwin, who you all know. When I was little, I lived with my uncle, Kenny. I’ve never had any pets.”

“I’m afraid of the ocean, spiders, and the fear that something might happen to Armin I can’t do anything about. My favorite food is peas. I’m good at origami.”

“Peas? Out of all the foods in the world, you pick peas as your favorite?” Eren nodded with a smile, which made Levi laugh. “I’m claustrophobic and I like cleaning. My favorite food is Cassoulet, but obviously I haven’t had that since I went into the navy.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a French dish. Its meat and white beans it’s hard to explain, its really hearty and a comfort food. I speak French, also.”

Eren’s eyes sparkled. “Wow. That’s so romantic.”

Levi rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. My mother was French. But she died when I was younger.” He gently pushed some of the water in the bathtub over toward Eren in a wave, splashing him. “Maybe I’ll speak to you in French next time, if you’re good.”

Eren smiled, bouncing a little. “Okay.” He said with a blush. “Hange...she told us some things about you and Erwin. Well actually, about all you guys, when you were on that special team.” Eren said, running his finger over Levi’s familiar tattoo.

Levi raised an eyebrow, leaning up against the bathtub wall. “Did she now?”

Eren bit his lip, explaining what he had learned from Hange.

“Wow, that snitch.” He said with a smile. “Well I guess she knew we would all come out of this alright, if she trusted you with our treasonous secrets.”

Eren smiled. “I guess so. About your partner. I’m sorry.” 

Levi’s brows furrowed. “Farlan?”

Eren nodded, not sure where the comment had come from. Why had he said that?

Levi gave a sad smile. “Thank you. It was a long time ago. He was kind of...like my Armin, I guess.” 

Eren’s face dropped. He couldn’t imagine ever losing Armin. “I’m so sorry.”

Levi smiled. “Time heals wounds. He’s a memory now, I guess. A good one.”

“I can’t imagine anything ever happen to Armin. I’m not sure I could live without him.”

“You guys are close.”

“Best friends. And recently we became...confusing.” Eren said, scratching the back of his head.

Levi gaped at him. “Are you guys together now?”

“No, and yes.” 

Levi closed his eyes. He didn’t want to think about Eren and Armin in bed together. He would get another erection.

“I can’t think about you guys together. I’m going to get hard again.” Levi groaned, getting out of the bath, which made Eren smile.

They finished their bath, changed the bedding and crawled into bed, Levi easily becoming the small spoon next to Eren, who was still wearing his collar.

“Are you going to keep that on forever?” Levi asked, reaching back and running his finger across it.

Eren reached up to touch it, his hand gently brushing over Levi's. “I kind of like it. It's like I’m yours when I wear it.”

Levi smiled. “You don’t need a collar to be mine, brat. But here.” He left the room, and came back with his wallet. Opening his wallet, he pulled out a long chain with a dog tag on the end, and looped it around Eren’s neck. 

“Here. This can be your collar instead.” He said, resting it in the middle of Eren’s sunkissed chest. Eren looked at it, and Levi’s full name, date of birth and other information listed on it. 

“For me?” Eren said disbelieving, as Levi unclipped the collar letting Eren’s neck breathe.

“Yeah. It's a dog tag, since you're kind of an animal. But now everyone knows that you're mine alone. And no one can take you away.”  Levi said. 

A dark red blush covered Eren's face as he held it tightly in both hands. "Thanks." he said, obviously thrilled by the gift. 

They repositioned, Levi's back pressed up against Eren. He could feel the cool press of his dog tag around Eren’s neck pressing into his skin, and it made him bite his lower lip in a smile as he drifted off to sleep.

“Hey Levi?” 

“Mm, what brat.” Levi responded sleepily, as Eren carded his finger’s through Levi’s damp hair.

“I like you.”

“Yeah? I like you too.”

“Mmm Night.”

Levi tangled his legs with Eren’s and laced his fingers with his. He wasn’t sure how the last few hours had happened, it was like something out of a dream. He was so happy he couldn’t explain it. He squeezed Eren’s hand, raising it to his lips for a kiss. “Goodnight.”

\-----------

The old, seedy bar smelled like wood, beer and cheap perfume. It had low hanging faux gold chandeliers that cast a dim glow about the large room, and was set up with booths and tables that were squished much too close together for the floor space provided. The color scheme of the old bar was red and gold, which was present in the barstools, faded paisley wallpaper, vintage pictures and old fashioned carpet that was flattened to the ground after years of use. 

Armin had never been to the bar before, but had heard of it. The bar was quite famous, it had stood for 100 years and was one of the oldest places in town. The food was terrible, the beer was cheap, it smelled bad and was ugly, but it was a busy place, frequented by tourists due to the age.

Attached to the bar was an even older hotel, which was completely opposite the unkempt bar, the only thing they had in common was age. The hotel had also been one of the first buildings erected in the town, and was celebrated as a historical landmark. The old hotel was kept up well by the staff and historical society, giving the guests a true vintage experience, like something out of a black and white film, if you were willing to pay for it. The room décor and amenities included everything from timeless clawfoot bathtubs to original paintings hung up in ornately decorated frames. 

Armin hadn't planned on visiting this old fashioned, somewhat sketchy bar tonight. He was planning on going to Hange's, hanging out with his friends, and having a great, relaxing night safe in his bubble, with Eren, Hange, Mike and Valkyrie. This is not how he wanted tonight to go. In any event, he had ended up here, due to one of his usual panic moves. Fight or flight. He was always a flight person, he ran like the coward he was. He kicked himself for it again. He should have just had a good old fashioned showdown in the street right there like Eren. He was so brave. His confrontation was probably over now. Levi had probably learned his lesson and apologized to Eren on his knees. 

Armin clenched his fists, trying to carefully process what he was supposed to do. He had trapped himself with no escape, essentially. 

Guess it'd be good to start with a drink.

He walked to the long, faded wooden bar that sat against the back wall. It was short and the shelves behind the bar were stuffed with old, half empty liquor bottles in a completely unorganized fashion. Ugly, stained red barstools lined the bar on the side closest to him. He stood and ordered a Manhattan, which was served up to him quickly in a short tumbler with a cherry on top.

He looked around at the array of guests in the restaurant. There were couples, families, and groups of bros who were there for the cheap beer served in old fashioned mugs. There were overdressed tourists and single men sitting with frowns at the bar, watching the football game that was playing on all of the mounted televisions. For all intents and purposes, this was probably one of the least desirable place in the whole entire town for him to be trapped right now.

He saw Erwin entering the bar. Tall, blonde, and drop dead sexy. God, Armin didn’t know if he’d be able to resist him, but he hurt inside. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but knew he had about 6 seconds to decode his emotions before he had to act on them.

The small blonde squeezed his Manhattan in his hand and did the same thing he had previously. He ran. He moved silently through the small bar, making his way into the next room, which was a small, old fashioned lounge. It was out of place for this day and age, but for the establishment itself, it wasn't surprising. 

He melted into the crowd of guests in the dark, small room. Men and women were smoking, groups were sitting around in the dingy, cracked booths and couples were visitng at small, out of the way tables. The middle of the room was empty floor space, where people were standing and listening to the pianist and singer who were up on stage. He hated smoke, crowds, shitty bars and confrontation, all of which were seemingly about to converge on him at this very moment.

Armin was too old to play hard to get, this was something he was sure he'd outgrown, hiding like prey, waiting to be caught. He had played this game when he was younger. He wasn't sure if it was a defense mechanism, or a flirty gesture. Maybe he had the primal desire to be pursued. To feel understood, and decoded, and to have someone invest in him. To find someone, the one person, who would understand him. He loved Eren more than anything in the world, but they would never completely understand each other, they were different types of people. And now, what had drawn him to the game once again was a mix of fear, uncertainty, desire and hope that he didn’t completely understand.

He didn't know what he wanted. He knew that if he kept Erwin at arms length, he and Eren could be happy together. He could enjoy the memories that he had with Erwin once, when he felt like indulging in them and pretending like they didn’t have a terrible ending. 

But he also knew for certain, that Erwin was the most amazing, strong, and mysterious person he had ever met. He was intelligent, intuitive, and cunning, and he could be the one to completely unravel him and understand him. He could be the key to the box that he'd never been able to open. 

But he wasn’t sure if he was ready to forgive. To let him in. He didn’t know of he could take the leap and dive into him. He didn’t know the risk of the fall.  


He had found a place in a dark corner of the smoky room and was leaning up against the wall. He didn’t want to run or hide. But he sure as hell didn’t want to be caught either. He knew as soon as he was caught, he would be tangled up, captured in the gaze, scent, touch, and mystery that was Erwin Smith.

The room was lit with a pink hue due to the lighting and haze from the cigarettes. Armin let himself be swallowed up in the cloud. He hated smoke. He hated it when Eren smoked, and told him it was a filthy habit. But tonight, he felt like it helped him hide. 

He pulled a single cherry out of his drink and pulled it off the stem. While he was sensually pulling it out of his mouth, his gaze caught a pair of blue eyes entering the doorway on the other side of the room. It was like the whole entire world was black and white except for him. Erwin. 

Armin’s heart beat quickly. He didn’t know the words to say.  He could melt under Erwin’s stare. Armin broke the gaze, turned his eyes to the front of the room as the larger man approached. He stopped next to the smaller blonde, who was leaning against the wall, looking away from him.

“Why did you follow me here, Erwin?” Armin asked, Erwin’s name exiting his lips flawlessly as he chewed on the ‘w’ sounding out the foreign pronunciation beautifully.

Erwin didn’t say anything, just relished in the sound of Armin saying his name for a moment before responding. 

“I’d like to apologize for the way that my indiscretion made you feel.”

Ah. Another apology, just reworded to sound like an old english punchline. 

Armin bit his lower lip. 

' Well, Armin, are you going to accept his apology, or not? Take it for what it's worth. Move on. He came here for you. You want him. Accept the apology then give yourself to him. You know you want to.' Armin mulled the thought and the apology over in his head. He had about three seconds to decide. 

Are you going to accept it? 

Three seconds. Three. Two. One. 

No. 

He needed an apology. But that was not enough.

Armin put his glass to his lips and completely downed his whole Manhattan, shaking his head as the mediocre tasting martini burned all the way down his throat into his gut. 

“Goodbye, Commander.” he whispered. It was all he said, before making his way toward the lounge exit. 

“Armin, wait, please.” Erwin called, chasing after him. 

“Don’t call me by my name. You haven’t earned that privilege.” Armin said, setting the glass down on one of the tables at the edge of the smoky room. 

“Please. Let me just talk to you.” The taller man begged.

Armin turned around, shrouded by the pink smoke of the lounge, with his golden hair and blue eyes he looked like some kind of angel about to deliver a message. 

What? You’ve come to apologize, obviously. You’ve done it now, you should be rid of your guilt, right?”

Erwin opened his mouth to say something but Armin didn’t let him speak. 

 “Who am I to you, really? Just another guy, right? How many guys did you bed during fleet week? I’m curious, did you ditch them all like that, or were some of them special enough that you told them your name? Did you stay with some through the morning?”  God, he hated this conversation. He could tell this was going to get bad. Everything that was hurt and bitter was coming up from inside him simultaneously in an ugly, overflowing mess.

“Armin…”

“Stop. Don’t. Don’t speak. We tried to leave that evening. Why didn’t you let us, was it because we were young and you knew that we’d come with you? Because you knew that we were attracted to you?  If you are going to treat guys like hookers, for fuck’s sake, at least pay them before you disappear.” His eyes levelled, blue eyes staring into Erwin’s cobalt gaze hard for the first time in the entire evening. The words slapped Erwin across the face and made him bite into his cheek. 

Armin looked older than when they had first met. More grow up, stronger. Like he could defend himself. Advocate for himself. He wasn’t weak. It blew Erwin away, leaving him breathless and speechless. All he wanted to do was gather him up in his arms and beg for him to stop torturing him and please just forgive him, but that was too much to ask.

“It wasn’t supposed to be that way.”

“What the fuck do you mean it wasn’t supposed to be that way?” Armin raised his voice for the first time in the history of ever. “You accidently walked out of a hotel room? You forgot that you had been fucking kids half your age a couple hours before, and that they were literally, still in your bed? You didn't imagine that leaving them high and dry may make them feel a little shitty?”

“I wouldn’t say half my age.” Erwin mumbled. 

Armin hated himself for the scene he was making. It was like his insides were tearing him in two, part needing to advocate for himself, to show Erwin all the pain he had caused him. The other half just needed Erwin, needed to be in his arms. That was all that mattered, he had wanted it for so long. What was he expecting to come out of this conversation? What was he waiting for? A sign. A real, sincere, sign of apology. That Erwin acknowledged how much pain he caused him. He needed to be understood. That’s what he had needed all along. 

“I’m--"

“Don’t say I’m sorry. I don’t think you know what that means. Have you ever had to apologize for anything in your life?” Armin put his hand on his head, as if checking for a fever. “It’s true. I’m not worth it, and it’s fine. I’m used to that. But here.” Armin said, pulling out a couple hundred dollar bills out of his wallet. “At least pay the next one.” He said as he tucked the bills in Erwin’s front shirt pocket.

Then Armin was gone. He was out of the lounge, moving toward the door, Erwin still standing where he was. What had happened. He had lost and was completely frozen. He didn’t understand. He saw Armin navigating through the bar, heading to the exit. Mike’s words went through his head. “Fix your fuck up, Erwin.” How, Mike? I don’t know how to. Not this time. 

Armin was nearly to the door when a man came out from a side booth and caught Armin, looping his arm around the blonde's small waist.  


Erwin could see an exchange happening, but couldn’t hear the conversation. The man was tall and broad in the shoulders, making Armin look incredible petite. The large hand that rested on Armin’s hip moved lower on his waist, suggestively grazing over Armin's belt buckle with his thumb while he talked to him. Armin smiled kindly at first, but at the suggestive touch, Erwin saw him shake his head and put both hands against the man’s chest as if trying to push away. 

He struggled but the man pulled him closer to him, running his fingers over Armin's soft lips, forcing his head back as he moved his lips in closer to Armin's long, delicate neck. 

Then it happened. Erwin was across the room, peeling the man off of Armin and throwing him to the ground, wrapping his large arms around the blonde, practically pocketing him inside his body. Erwin snarled protectively, looking at the other man, who got up off the ground and scampered away when he saw the fiery look in Erwin’s blue eyes. 

“Stay away.” Erwin growled, burying his nose into Armin’s soft hair. 

There was a pause, but Erwin didn't let of Armin, whom he was still holding tightly to his chest. “I’m sorry." He whispered into Armin's ear. "I know you told me not to touch you. But please, please don’t go. I...I…” 

Shit. He didn’t know the words. 

“I feel for you. I’m drawn to you. Please. You’re right. I don’t know how to say I’m sorry. All I know is I need you near me. You’ve captured my heart in a way I don’t understand. If you go away, I’m afraid I’ll lose you forever." 

Erwin paused again, as if thinking, and then continued. "I knew on that day, that if I said goodbye that I wouldn’t be able to leave you. It was stupid and selfish and I regretted it every second. I missed you more than words can express. Please, accept my apology. I don't deserve it, but know I mean it with all my heart. You're the only person I've ever met like you, and I don't want to lose you again. Please.” 

In half a second, Armin’s cold demeanor broke, and he pressed himself into Erwins body, wrapping his arms around him. Those were the words Armin needed. His words, his scent, the emotions in his voice. He was buried in Erwin, caught up floating away. “I missed you too.” Armin choked. 

The rest happened in slow motion. Erwin held his small hand in his as he led him up the large old staircase, into one of the vintage hotel rooms. The room was small, with an enormous wooden four poster bed, matching oak furniture and red paisley wallpaper. There was a window with a wooden frame, as well as two paintings with large decorative frames hanging up on the walls to add a homey feel. 

It wasn’t like the first hotel, which had been large and lush and romantic. This was quant and old, with a beautiful glass lamp on the nightstand, a decorative wash basin, and a small bookshelf full of classic books, giving them the feeling of being transported back in time. It was a completely different type of erotic. Armin was getting mindlessly surrounded by the feel of it all, falling into it with Erwin by his side. 

Please, God, don’t let me regret this.

\--

Armin's mind went blank as Erwin’s lips hit his, the larger man's strong arms tightly wrapping around his small waist. Armin had forgotten how much larger Erwin was then he, taller, broader, stronger, he was amazing. Armin wanted nothing more than to give himself fully to Erwin and let himself be swept away. 

His lips not leaving Armin's, Erwin worked the smaller blonde out of his leather jacket, then quickly lifted his undershirt over his head, leaving Armin shirtless. He pulled out of the kiss, and Armin reached up to help him with his buttons, and together they tore off Erwin's button up shirt, throwing it to the ground. 

There was a sense of urgency in Erwin's movements, like he couldn't wait any longer to get his hands on the petite blonde in front of him, who was slowly unbuckling his own pants and slipping them down his toned legs. He was unsure how a simple action could look so incredibly sensual, but all he knew was that he needed him. His eyes were filled with a fiery want, and it sent a shiver up Armin’s body when their gazes connected. Erwin grabbed Armin, gently tossing him onto the large bed, his head landing on the pillows and Armin letting out a slight squeak as he bounced on the soft covers. 

Erwin shimmied out of his pants, leaving both of them only in their boxers. Armin gasped, seeing Erwin's body again. It was like seeing it for the first time. Broad, amazing, like something chiseled out of marble. Absolutely perfect. 

The larger blonde crawed over the smaller, covering his body with his own. His lips devoured Armin’s as he yanked his underwear down.

Armin’s mind was swimming as he felt Erwin pressing against him. It was the most perfect feeling. He felt safe and warm, like this was the only thing in the world that mattered.

Erwin opened the small package of lube and dripped some on his fingers. It was generic and unscented, and had come with the room, but would work. Armin felt Erwin’s lips move down his body slowly, suckling small marks from his collarbone down his stomach, around his hips and across his navel. He let out a soundless scream, his back arching as Erwin simultaneously licked up Armin's light blonde happy trail and slid one lubed finger into him. 

He wanted this. He needed this. He had for so long. Finally, Finally. It was Erwin.

Erwin looked over the small blonde, bucking underneath him in pleasure already, and they had only just begun. He was unbelievable. So beautiful, his small, flawless body. He reacted so perfectly to Erwin's kisses and caresses, he could tease him all night, just to watch the way his body arched and his knees quivered. He was so, so amazing. He had truly never seen anything as perfect. If he died this very instant, he would be happier than he had ever been before. 

“Armin, oh my god.” Erwin whispered, as he nibbled gently across the small man's hips teasingly, while he slid one finger in and out of him slowly. Part of him wanted to tease the smaller man softly and slowly like this all night, but the other part was having a hard time holding back already. All he wanted was to be inside of him, making him cry out his name and cum over and over until he fell asleep exhausted by his side. 

His eyes met Armin's crystal blue stare while he took the man's much smaller length in his mouth.  


Armin cried out, tangling his fingers in Erwin’s hair, while Erwin slowly moved his tongue and lips up and down Armin’s cock. Armin thrust his hips up, burying his cock in Erwin’s throat, causing Erwin to let out a satisfied moan. 

God, Armin. He needed him. He needed to lock him away where no one could ever find him. Where he would be his and only his forever. 

Erwin slowly slipped in a second lubed finger next to the first, causing Armin to let out even breathier moans as Erwin caressed the walls of Armin's insides, spreading him open with his fingers, twisting and opening him up. He tried not to rush, but the breathy moans and tugs at his hair were driving him wild. He didn't know how much longer he could hold on. He sucked and swallowed around Armin’s length that had grown rock hard, and Erwin could taste the sweet precum leaking from the tip. He tasted so delicious. Everything about him was so sweet and amazing. Even his sweat and his cum. Erwin wanted it all. 

“Aah, Ahh, Erwin!” Armin cried out, using the larger man’s name, but this time crying it out in pleasure, causing the larger man to groan around Armin's dick. He worked Armin’s length harder with his tongue, slipping a third finger in to Armin’s small hole, which was dripping with lube and Erwin’s saliva as it ran down in an erotic way from Armin’s cock, across his balls and onto his small hole. 

Erwin’s twisting and pushing of his three fingers made Armin thrust up into Erwin, filling Erwin’s throat again with his member. God. He couldn't decide if he wanted Armin's sweet cum in his mouth, or if he wanted to make Armin hold his release until Erwin was sheathed inside of him. He wanted to taste him, to swallow all his seed and have it as his own. But he also wanted, he needed to coax Armin's release out with his own cock, making him quiver in ecstacy in his arms as he came. He needed to feel that again.

“More, please, Erwin, give me more.” Armin begged. 

The larger man added a fourth finger, sliding his fingers down the inside of Armin’s walls, Armin’s breathy pants and moans and yanks of his hair were endless and almost unbearable, shooting pleasure through Erwin’s body, Erwin’s hard cock dripping onto the soft patterned comforter. Armin's quivering hips thrust up continually, burying his cock into Erwin's throat, and Erwin could tell his was nearing his end.

“Erwin, aah, I’m going to...Erwin….” Armin gasped.

Erwin pulled his four fingers out of the smaller man and pulled his lips off Armin’s length with one last flick of his tongue over the tip, the small man letting out an unsatisfied whimper. 

“No, angel. You don’t get to cum until I’m deep inside of you.” He said, leaning up and nibbling on the smaller man's neck as he slicked lube over his rock hard cock. 

“Tell me if anything hurts, okay, angel? God, I’ve dreamed about this over and over for months. I missed you.” He whispered, brushing Armin's fringe out from in front of his eyes, as he gently pulled his hair free of the elastic, his blond locks falling freely onto the pillow as he slid the elastic onto his own wrist.

“I’m starting a collection of your hair bands.” Erwin said with a smile, showing him the two on his wrist.

“What? Is that…” Erwin nodded. “You kept it all this time?” Armin gasped.

“It was like a little piece of you.”

Armin leaned up and caught Erwin’s lips in a fierce kiss as the older man cradled him in his strong arms and slowly pushed into him. Armin arched his back and moaned, feeling the large man slowly moving inside of him. Aah, Erwin.” He cooed, and the larger blonde’s lips came down and met with his.

“You’re so beautiful, angel. God, you’re amazing.”

He gently pulled out, then slowly moved back in, allowing Armin to adjust to his length and girth. Eren wasn’t nearly the size of Erwin, the large blonde made him feel so absolutely full, it made his eyes roll back in his head in contentment.

“Faster.” Armin requested. And Erwin started to steadily speed up, rocking his hips into Armin’s until Armin was gripping into him, one hand grasping onto one of his large biceps, the other tangled in his hair.

“Gaah, Erwin, daddy, more, daddy, please, give me more!” He screamed. Erwin relished that he had been able to get Armin to use the pet name. He pounded into him harder. He needed to hear it again. He lifted his hips, hitting his prostate. “Daddy, yes, yes! God!” Erwin smiled, biting down on Armin’s collar bone.

“You’re so good, love. Oh. You’re so beautiful.”

“Say my name.”

“Armin. You’re so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like you before.” Erwin said as he rolled his hips, locking his lips on Armin's in a kiss, swallowing the smaller blonde's sweet moans that he was sure were disturbing everyone on the hotel floor. He was so perfect. The angelic blonde fit perfectly in his arms, like he was made to be there. He looked amazing like this, hair spread out on the pillows, fingernails digging into his skin, face flushed and panting, begging for only him. 

He wanted, he needed to make Armin scream louder. He needed to hear more. More of the angel calling his name. He needed to feel more of him against his skin. He grabbed the smaller man around the thighs, picking him up easily and taking him to the nearby wall. He pushed him up against the wall and slid into him again, the position creating the perfect angle for him to pleasure the man in his arms to the fullest. Erwin began to slam into his lover again, holding him carefully under the thighs, gripping his tiny ass with both hands, pounding into him so deep that tears slid from Armin’s eyes automatically. 

“Aah, oh my God. Yes daddy. Please, more!” Armin’s breathy screams echoed as his fingernails tore through the white muscled flesh of Erwin's shoulders making bloody, red scratch marks.

Erwin growled, leaning forward and possessively suckling small red kiss marks down the side of Armin's throat while pounding into him. I'll make you mine. You'll be no one else's ever again. Only mine. 

Armin’s head flew back, tears running down his cheeks, the only sound ushering from his mouth breathy moaned pants, until there was nothing at all, his mouth just opening in a soundless scream, as his eyes slid shut and his head rested against the wall, drunk on the pleasure. He didn’t want it to end. 

“Does this hurt, angel?” Erwin asked, licking up his cheek, tasting his tears with pride, continuing to drop Armin down hard on his enormous cock. He was so close to coming, but he wanted to ride it out as long as he could. Armin was so, so beautiful. He couldn't stop.

“No, its-its, amazing.” Armin panted, leaning forward, his teeth digging into Erwin's shoulder. The taller man thrust harder and harder, making Armin scream out his name once again. Armin knew he for sure was going to have a hard time walking the next day. This was amazing. Erwin was so deep inside him, hitting his prostate with every thrust. He didn’t want to come. This was too amazing, God, it was perfect. Erwin was perfect. This moment was perfect. It was like everything that he had wanted, everything that he had dreamed about for months, except so, so much better. He couldn't believe it was real. He wanted to hang on to this moment for as long as he could, like it was going to slip away and be just a memory again. 

He felt his release coming all too soon, and he cried out for Erwin, digging his fingernails into his back. "Gaah, daddy, Erwin, I'm...I'm coming!" He cried, as his body jolted and his knees quivered, his cum shooting over he and Erwin's chest. 

“Daddy.” Armin squeaked again, resting his head on Erwin’s shoulder. 

Erwin turned and laid Armin on the bed and then pulled out, and jerking a couple times, he spattered Armin’s front with his white ropes of cum.

"God, Armin." Erwin breathed. "You're so beautiful." He whispered, leaning down and catching the panting man beneath him's lips in his own. 

Armin reached down and touched the cum on his chest, experimentally lifting a few fingers to his mouth and licking them clean. The sight made Erwin weak, and he dropped to his knees beside the bed at the sensual scene. "Armin, angel. You're so perfect." He whispered, running his fingers through his hair. 

\--  
They lay next to each other in the large bed, hair damp from the shower, exchanging slow, lazy kissed while their legs tangled underneath the covers. 

Erwin’s fingers ran through Armin’s hair slowly. “Your hair’s grown.” He said as he gently curled it around his fingers. 

“Yeah. I forgot to cut it I guess.”

“It looks beautiful. You look beautiful.” He whispered, and Armin smiled. 

“I’m sorry. For hurting you.” Erwin said.

“Its okay." Armin whispered. "I forgive you. Just if you leave again at least tell me.”

“I’ll never leave you again.” Erwin said, wrapping his arm around Armin’s waist and pulling him close.

Armin laughed a little. “Well that’s not true. I know you have a job and stuff. And it’s important to you.”

Erwin shrugged. “Its true. But maybe it's time to retire. You know, get a job here, on dry land.”

Armin smiled softly. “Would you do that?”

“I just never have had a reason to before.”

“You don’t know anything about me. You don’t even know if you actually like me.”

Erwin ran his hand down Armin’s face. “Then why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

"Hmm." Armin thought a bit. “I’m Armin Arlert. I’m turning 27 tomorrow. I want to be a famous author. My favorite food is spaghetti. I like anime and cats.”

“Its your birthday tomorrow? Are you doing anything special?” Erwin asked, pushing the long hairs out of Armin’s face as he gazed into his eyes lovingly.

“Eren and I are going to get matching tattoos, but other than that we were just planning on lazing around.”

"Would you have time to do something with me?" Erwin asked, running his thumb down the smaller man's face. 

"Yeah, of course. We can do something in the morning." Armin said with a smile. "And if you want, you could come with us in the afternoon to get our tattoos. You can hold my hand." He said, slipping his smaller hand into Erwin's. 

“I’d like that.” Erwin smiled.

“What about you? What can you tell me about yourself?” Armin asked.

“What about me…” Erwin mused. “My name is Erwin Smith. I'm a commander in the Navy. My family has been in the navy for several generations. It's always been something that we’ve just done, and I did it because I was the firstborn and it was part of my family duties, to become a commander in the navy. In a few weeks I’ll be turning,” He cleared his throat, “43.”  


Armin smiled. “Well, you don’t look a day over…” He looked at him carefully. “Maybe, 41.” He said with a giggle. 

“What? I’m not sure if I should be offended.” Erwin said, pulling Armin close to him and tickling his sides, making the smaller blonde thrash around in bed and giggle. He ended the tickling after a bit with a kiss to the head. 

“Do you have any family?” Armin asked.

“My father, the other Commander Smith, is still alive, yes, and I also have a younger brother whose a school teacher.” He said with a soft smile. “You?”

“My mom, but a little awhile ago, after my dad died in the Northern Conflict, she got remarried and they adopted some kids and moved away. So I'm not really in her family anymore, I would say that Eren is my only family now.”

Erwin nodded. “I can tell that you’re close.” 

“Yeah. I’m not sure what I would do without him, honestly.” Armin said. 

“Are you two...together?” Erwin asked.

Armin cleared his throat. “Kind of? There’s not a label on it. We’re just best friends that occasionally sleep together. We love each other. It seemed like the next step.”

Erwin’s eyebrows bunched up. “Then isn’t this...would he be okay with this?”

“Yes. He would have wanted this more than anything.” He said, snuggling into him.

"Well then." Erwin said with a soft smile, "I'm glad." 

Armin bunched his eyebrows together, trying to think of more questions to ask Erwin. “What about your dream vacation?”

“Hmm. Somewhere in the mountains. You?”

“Tropical Island.”

“Biggest Fear?”

“Snakes, Airplanes, and things out of my control.”

Armin looked at Erwin with a puzzled look. “YOU are afraid of snakes?”

“Yes.” He said. “There are terrifying snakes in the world. And I got bit by one once when I was a child, I’ve never been the same. It was huge.”

“It was probably like a foot long, but taller than you since you were a baby.” Armin chuckled.

“No, it was enormous.” Erwin insisted. “How about your biggest fear?”

“Heights, Something Happening to Eren, and I guess, I don't know how to describe it...being restrained, I guess.”

Erwin brushed Armin’s fringe from his forehead. “Restrained, like tied up?”

Armin sighed. "Jean used to...do things to me. And..." Armin picked at his hangnail, like he didn't know how to explain himself. "You know like BDSM, or S&M, whatever people call it? Like that. Except he would do it when he was angry. On purpose, to hurt me. And I know that Eren is really into it, he has this closet full of toys that he thinks I don't know about. One day, I want to trust someone enough to do it, you know, but right now, even trying to do it, like doggy position when I can't see who I'm with is terrifying to me."

Erwin furrowed his brows. "I'm so sorry. Let me know if I ever do anything that scares you or makes you uncomfortable. We don't have to do anything you don't want to do until you're ready. And if you're never ready, that's okay too.”

"Thanks." Armin murmured. “Hange put us in Krav Maga. It helped, actually, I think. It gave me more confidence. To not be afraid of the things.”

“Krav Maga is awesome. Levi and I took it. We should spar sometime.” He said with a wink. 

“You’d like that.” Armin said with a blush. “You just want to pin me down again.”

“Who, me?” Erwin asked, running his hand sensually down Armin’s stomach. “Never.”

“Hange told us things. About when you all worked together when you were younger.” Armin said. “About the serum and stuff.”

Erwin’s jaw dropped, then he smiled. “Well then, I guess I can never let you go, if you know all our dirty secrets.” He said, pulling him into a hug. “Not like I was planning letting you get away anyway.”

Armin leaned forward, capturing Erwin’s mouth in his, and they slowly kissed again, Erwin’s fingers gently wrapping around Armin’s hair.

“I like you, Armin.” Erwin whispered. A strange statement, coming from a grown man. “The real you. Not just your body. I like the way you think, how your mind works, your strengths and your weakness. I want to get to know you better.”

“Thanks Erwin. You too.” Armin said with a blush.

“Oh here, you don’t have this. Wait, where’s your phone?” Erwin asked.

“It's all the way over there.” Armin groaned, pointing to the other side of the room.

“Well then I’ll just do this.” He smiled. He picked up a pen that was on the nightside stand, and pulled out Armin’s wrist, writing a number on it. “Now you have my number.”

Armin looked at it. “You know we could have just gotten my phone.” He said with a giggle.

“Eh, we’ll do it in the morning.” Erwin said with a smile and a kiss. “Lets go to bed now.”

Armin clicked off the light and rolled over, molding himself into Erwin as the smaller spoon.

“You're so beautiful.” Erwin said, kissing behind Armin’s ear, then on the back of his neck.

“Erwin?” Armin whispered, lacing his fingers with the hand that was thrown over his waist.

“Yes, love?”

“You’ll be here when I wake up, right?”

“Of course, angel. I told you, I’m never leaving you again.”

“Okay. Goodnight Erwin.”

“Goodnight, Armin.”

\--

When Armin woke up the next morning, the room was dark. The covers on the left side were pulled up, like there had never been a second occupant in the bed. 

Erwin was gone.


	12. We'll Call This Chapter "Sheyla" Because "Shit Gets Worse" Sounds Too Derivative

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're already on chapter 12, I can't believe it, I hope you're enjoying reading the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it.  
> Thanks so much for making it this far and for all the comments and kudos, they are SO encouraging.  
> Well, pretty sure the chapter title says it all, but back to the show!
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't do bad things to people.

Armin clenched his jaw together, biting into his bottom lip. He wasn't going to cry. Not this time. No. He was so fucking sick of crying.  

He was an idiot. He wasn’t sure what he was more upset over, the simple fact that he had been lied to and betrayed for a second time, or the fact that he had gone along with it, he had completely let it happen. He had practically watched the rug get pulled out from underneath him this time, and done nothing to stop it.

The situation itself was almost laughable. He couldn’t believe it. He had fallen for the same trick twice, right in a row, played by the same man. For him, it was inexcusable. He was generally smarter than that, but maybe he was just shit in relationships. After all, he had let Jean work him over for 5 years, keeping him in a terrifying, controlling, abusive relationship, why would he suddenly be able to find something normal?

He had let Erwin’s sweet words and gentle touches fool him into believing he actually cared for him in such a deep way. He had given in to his desires, letting his hope and heart guide him, reaching out for something that he wished was real. He had made a very critical mistake.

Armin pulled up in front of his apartment, parking his bike next to Eren’s forerunner. He yanked off his helmet angrily as he slowly ascended the stairs to his apartment. His whole body was racked with pain from the night before. He wasn’t sure what hurt more, his body or just his overall general spirit. He was exhausted. It was like he was tired of living, tired of being himself. 

There was a sick feeling in the pit of Armin’s stomach. He felt nauseated, distressed, and all around worthless. Only one person could fix this. Eren. He needed to be in his arms. He was the one person in the world, that no matter what, was always okay with him, no matter how he was doing or what he was feeling. He just needed Eren to hold him, and tell him that everything was going to be just fine, because they had each other. 

Squeaking open the apartment door, he looked around. The apartment was quiet, and the bedroom at the end of the hall’s door was shut. Eren generally slept with it open, unless he and Armin were sleeping together, then he shut it to try to muffle some of the noise they made, even though that wasn't exactly how sound physics worked. The neighbors downstairs would still be able to hear his the bed creaking and his cries for more, even if the door was closed.

Eren had company. 

He could hear faint voices coming from behind Eren’s bedroom door. Whomever was with him, they were awake. Armin's heart dropped into his stomach, but he worked hard to shake it off. It didn’t matter. Eren could do whatever he wanted. He and Eren weren’t together. They were just best friends that occasionally slept together. They were practically just fuck buddies, if you defined it, really. It didn’t even mean anything, when it came right down to it. They weren’t committed to each other.

Armin entered the apartment, putting his helmet down on the table and sliding off his shoes, he laid his coat mindlessly over one of the kitchen chairs, lost in thought. 

It didn’t matter. Eren had his own life, he didn’t belong to him. 

Armin moved down the hallway to the bathroom, sliding his clothes from the night before off and dropping them onto the cold bathroom floor in a heap. They smelled like the dingy, smoky club, and Erwin. He needed to get the smell off of him. It was like the man's scent had leaked into his skin and taken residence in his and blood, traveling through his body, a part of him when he breathed. He needed to get rid of it.

He looked in the mirror, where his tired, disappointed face looked back at him. His blonde hair was tousled, and his firm white body was covered in pink and red kiss marks, which trailed around his neck, down his chest and all around his hips, giving him the look of a whorish leopard.

Armin gritted his teeth. He was so fucking easy. 

He picked his clothes up and turned to put them in the laundry basket in the corner of the bathroom, where he noticed a small pile of bloody, dirty clothes, neatly folded sitting next to the basket. Armin picked up the shirt on top of the pile. It was spattered with blood, and the shoulder was ripped, as if it had been grabbed roughly and yanked hard. It was small, even smaller than something he would wear and much smaller than Eren. The last person that he had seen this small and this bloody was Levi.

Levi was here. He was also alive, and naked, apparently. Well, he and Eren had worked everything out after all. Good for them.

He took a shower, rubbing his skin raw, needing to get the smell of Erwin off of him. Out of him. It was everywhere. Running through him. He wanted to love it. To be swallowed by it. Surrounded by it, like he had been the night before. Feeling safe and warm tucked inside it. But now, he felt absolutely sick thinking about it. He drown out the smell of rain and softness with his bodywash, which carried the tart scent of grapefruit. He ran his hands down his chest, hating the kiss marks that marred his body. It was like he had claimed, and marked, but only in jest. It was a joke, it had been from the beginning. He had been completely strung along. He had lost a game he wasn’t fully aware he was playing.  He looked at the phone number on his wrist and wondered if it truly was even Erwin's phone number. He scrubbed at it but it didn’t wash off, like it was tattooed into his skin. Armin eventually gave up with a grunt, shutting the shower water off. 

Wrapping a towel around his waist, tousling his fringe and putting his blonde hair up in a bun on his head, he let the gentle wisps fall down around his cheeks. He didn’t wear a man bun often because with his fringe he felt like it made his angular features look too feminine, but at the time he didn’t care. He just wanted his ponytail out of the way. He walked to his room, slid into distressed jeans, a long sleeved Henley and a zip up black hoodie, pulling on his converse last. 

He clenched his teeth again. 

God. He hated himself right now. He was so, so stupid. 

Armin went back to the kitchen and dug through the cabinets, looking for Eren’s secret stash. He found it exactly where he expected it to be, in the cabinet under the oven. Ah. Patron silver. It was only 8 in the morning but Armin didn’t care. He popped the cork off and took a small drink of the burning, bitter liquid. Thanks Eren. I owe you one. 

He leaned back against the counter, swirling the liquid around in the bottle. Eren. Levi. Erwin. What had happened. How did things become this way. How did he become this way. 

He heard the door to Eren’s room creak open, and heard small, light footsteps in the hallway, and soon Levi appeared in the kitchen, wearing Armin’s sweat pants on his hips. He was in perfect shape, just like he had been the last time Armin had seen him, with an amazing body, his black hair slightly messed up, and bites and kiss marks trailing down both sides of his neck. He caught sight of a worn, anxious looking blonde, with a bottle of Patron pressed to his lips and jumped.

"Armin." Levi said with surprise in his voice. "I didn't know you were here."

"I live here." Armin responded coldly. 

Levi was taken aback by Armin's harsh tone. Armin had carried an overall cordial demeanor when they had met before, but now seemed like a different type of person. Armin could tell that he had surprised Levi and gritted his teeth. He was being too obvious. He didn't want to draw any attention to himself. He just wanted to get out of there. He inwardly shook his head. Calm down. Just act normal. 

“Yeah. Right. I knew that." Levi stumbled, "You just surprised me is all.” Levi said. “Sorry, I’m wearing your pants. They were the only thing that fit.”

“Its fine.” Armin mumbled as he drank.

“Do you want me to get out of the way for awhile so you can talk to Eren?” It was a thoughtful question, but Armin declined. He didn’t want to see Eren. He was probably covered in Levi’s scratches and hickies, which Armin wasn't in the mood to see. 

“I’m on my way out.” Armin responded. "Just tell him to call me if he gets the chance." Armin's stomach felt sour. He went from having two sets of plans on his birthday to none. He was hurt and sick. He felt invisible.

Oh well. He didn't like his birthday anyway. Really, it didn't matter. He worked to shake it off, and Levi could tell there was something wrong by the expression on his face.

“Is everything alright?” Levi asked, reaching toward Armin, who jerked away, too obviously. Armin looked over the possessive lovemaking marks on Levi’s body not exactly sure how to feel. All he knew was that Eren wasn’t his right now. He was with Levi, and Armin was alone.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Armin said, painting a smile on his face. “Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Because you’re drinking tequila at 8:00 in the morning, and you look really upset.” Levi answered obviously.

“I always drink this early.”

Levi grimaced. It was beyond obvious that Armin was lying, they both knew it. Furthermore, Armin knew that Levi could tell he was lying, but knew that he wouldn't call him out on his lie. He didn’t know him well enough to. They just stood face to face, Armin with a smile plastered on his face and Levi unable to ask any questions.

“You should go back to bed.” Armin said, turning to leave. “It’d suck if Eren thought you left, you know? He’d probably feel pretty torn up.” 

Levi was confused. “Armin, Eren’s awake, I’m sure he’d want to see you. He’s just having a hard time walking right now.”

Armin thought seriously about it. He did want to see Eren. That's why he came home. But he had wanted to cuddle with Eren, to talk to him, and that wasn't going to happen, not now. He wasn't going in to see him with a fake plastic smile on his face, Eren would be able to tell something was wrong, and that wasn't a conversation that he wanted to start with Levi here. “Its fine. Just tell him to call me.” Armin said, not looking back.

“Armin.”

“What.”

“Happy birthday.”

Armin let out a short, sarcastic laugh and left, the bottle of patron dangling from one hand, his motorcycle helmet tucked under his arm.

\--

He stashed the Patron under the seat of his bike, deciding that he probably shouldn't be driving and drinking simultaneously. No matter how upset he was, he didn't want to cause an accident and put other's lives in danger. He pushed his helmet on and set off to one of the only places in the world that would make him feel alright.

It was a cold morning, he should have dressed warmer. The wind bit at him as he rode his motorcycle down the low-trafficked highway, getting closer to his destination. Where he was going was always packed during summer, but in the fall it was a little less busy due to the weather. To Armin though, it was paradise, no matter the time of year. 

He maneuvered his bike around the winding, narrow, uphill curves, and soon could hear the sound of the ocean and feel the salty wind against his face. Turning up one last bend in the road, he saw the vast ocean in the distance, and followed a beaten, bumpy side road until he reached his destination. 

The place he was headed was a small bar that was almost completely open, with a long wooden seating area with a half a dozen stools stood across from a large barbecue and a small bar. The whole area was set up like a surf shack, with Tiki torches around the perimeter and about 8 black metal tables, decorated nicely with vases, flowers and shells. It was like something you would see on a tropical island or at a luau, and was very out of place for the location, but it was Armin's favorite place in the world. The bar itself sat on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the enormous dark sea, you could see the ocean for miles in every direction, The cliff's edge was held back only by a small metal railing. Far below the waves crashed angrily into sandstone rocks, and in the distance, two colossal stones rise up out of the sea into the sky. 

Rockaway beach. It was beautiful. He needed to be here. It was a perfect place. He had almost too many memories here, with his family, and with Eren, with Jean, even. He had dreamed about bringing Erwin here, to his secret place. He had dreamed about he and Eren building their beachouse nearby, or someplace similar, on a cliff overlooking the vast, mysterious ocean. 

He pulled his bike into the small parking lot where only two other cars sat as he thought about it. Maybe he would have asked Eren to take him here today, if things had gone differently. If they had made different choices. Any different decision along their path could have changed things. But they were where they were now because of him and his shitty decision making, that had begun on that night so many months ago.

He approached the long wooden seating area and sat down. The peppy looking bartender, who was arraigning bottles on the back shelf approached him, like she was surprised to see him. She was dressed in a swimsuit, wearing a winter jacket over it. It was October, and the high up cliff got cold, almost too cold for what he was wearing, his long sleeved shirt and sweatshirt. He knew it'd be cold, he should have dressed warmer, but most of him felt numb anyway. 

“Starting early, cutie? Rough night?” She said in a flirty voice. He was the only one at the bar, but it was early in the morning, so that wasn't surprising at all. The thin, strawberry blonde leaned on the bar flirtatiously, reaching out smoothing out one of the flyaways falling near his cheek that was escaping from his small bun tied tightly on the back of his head. He gave the woman a half smile. “Yeah, something like that.”

He handed her his ID, and she gave it back to him.

“What can I get you, love?”

He cringed at the pet name. “Old Fashioned, no ice please.”

"Sure thing, handsome." She winked, then went to the back and came back awhile later.

“Here you go, sweetheart. It's on us. Happy birthday." She set the amber liquid on the bar in front of him with a napkin under it. "Are you doing anything special?”

“How…”

“Your birthdate's on your driver’s license.” She said with a wink, anticipating his question.

“Oh, right. Thanks. And just going to see a friend later.”  He said weakly as he sipped his drink.

“Have a good one, cutie. My name's Sheyla, let me know if you need anything else.” She said, disappearing into the back with a weird fingery wave.

Armin got up from his stool and waded through the metal tables, approaching the edge of the large cliff, where nearly 3000 or more feet down the waves angrily crashed against the rocks. It was a long way down. Whenever he and Eren came here, they would always pretend to push each other, while holding each other firmly, making sure there really was no way they could fall. Armin smiled and shook his head. No matter what age, some things they never outgrew. Like how stupid he was, and selfish. And how secretly, he just really wanted someone to care and understand him.

He was so pathetic, God, he wanted to just fade away. Melt into the sand and the sea and be gone.

He was worthless. A coward, a failure, and a mess.

He wondered if anyone would even miss him of he was gone. If he just suddenly disappeared, if anyone would care. His family wouldn’t. Not anymore. Did his mom even remember that it was his birthday? Did she even remember that she had another son? 

Eren had Levi, and Erwin, well fuck that guy. It would be less trouble for everyone, really if he just was gone.

Levi could move in with Eren, they wouldn’t have to worry about him, Armin the best friend and awkward tagalong.

Eren had spent so much time worrying about him, they probably hadn’t even been friends in the first place. It had been more of a father-son relationship. Eren was always looking out for him. He hadn't dated since they moved in together out of sheer guilt. And now they had slept together. It was probably just out of pity. Armin had practically forced himself on Eren. He really was a slut. He gritted his teeth. 

He was so fucking helpless and pathetic. He couldn’t even take care of himself, he wasn’t good enough for anyone. He watched the waves slowly move in and out. He took a few gulps of his drink. He wanted to be completely numb.  Maybe he just needed one more push, a bit more and he would do something really stupid. 

He shook his head. No. Fucking stop it Armin. You’re being a jackass. Grow up. Get ahold of yourself. 

He nodded. He was fine. This was fine. He didn’t need anyone. He was good on his own. He could survive by himself, he didn't need to cling to Eren anymore. He was happy for Eren and Levi. Eren had the right to make his own decisions. He shouldn't have to always be looking over his shoulder for him. And Erwin, god. A lump caught in his throat. He didn't even know what to say. He could go fuck himself. 

He was fine. He was okay. What happened to him didn’t really matter, since he was useless to the world and to everyone else. No one would come looking for him, because no one cared, but he could deal with that. He deserved it. 

Without him making such stupid fucking decisions, none of this would have happened in the first place, anyway. 

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he looked at it. Eren was calling, he also had two unopened text messages, one from Mikasa and one from Hange saying happy birthday and that they hoped to see him soon. He ignored them. 

He ended the call from Eren.  He didn’t want to talk to him, even though he had told him to call.

Everything would blow over eventually. Eren didn’t even have to know about he and Erwin. He could fabricate some story about how something else happened that night. He wouldn’t burden Eren with any of it. 

And, It really was fine if Eren chose Levi instead of him. It was better, actually. Levi could definitely please Eren more. He was older, more experienced, and looked like he would be more adventurous in bed. He could please him in ways Armin couldn't. He clenched his teeth together. 

All he had ever been in his whole entire life was a burden to everyone. He wasn't enough. 

They finally started, the tiny, hot tears leaking out of Armin’s eyes, running down the sides of his face as he tipped his head back, looking up at the sky, trying to make them stop.

God, why. Why did all this happen. Why had he made the same mistake twice. Or even once, for that matter. Why hadn’t he kept himself locked away. Where he belonged, where he wouldn't bother anyone. He was useless and worthless, like a plague. He stared down at the ocean, leaning up against the railing, his tears dripping onto the black railing with a tink. 

God, Could this day get any worse.

He leaned his head back, wiping his tears with the back of his sleeve. 

When he leaned his head back, he hit it into something soft but firm behind him. He turned, and his half finished drink slipped out of his hand with a gasp, shattering on the ground as warm, long fingers reached to wrap around his throat, a second hand shamelessly slipping down Armin’s jeans.

“Found you, you little bitch.”

\--

“He’s not picking up his phone.” Eren said confusedly, still laying in bed, Levi sitting cross legged next to him. “What was he like when you saw him?”

“Not...well.” Levi replied.

“What? What do you mean?”

“He seemed angry. Distressed. Like something was bothering him. He was also drinking Tequila, and it was 8 in the morning.”

"No...was it Patron Silver? That was my secret stash." Eren whined. "What sort of thing was bothering him? Did you ask him?" 

"I don't know, Eren. I did ask, and he told me nothing was wrong. I could tell something obviously was but I couldn't press him for it. He just stared at me with this big huge fake smile on his face." 

Eren frowned. "That's something I haven't seen from him in a long time. But I guess he just doesn't try to lie to me anymore." He rolled over and wrapped his arms around Levi's waist. 

Levi ran his fingers through Eren's tousled hair. "Ready to get up?" 

"Yeah." Eren said with a frown, "I was supposed to do stuff today with Armin though, and I don't know why he's not picking up his phone." 

As if on cue, Levi’s phone rang. He looked at the caller ID, rolling his eyes, then answered.

“What, Shitty Glasses. I'm busy. I'll call you back.” Eren heard a vocal inflection on the other end of the line getting louder asking Levi not to hang up. "Okay, fine but make it quick." Levi responded, rolling his eyes. There was a pause as Levi listened to Hange speak, and Levi’s eyes flicked up to meet Eren’s. “Yeah, he was here about an hour ago.”

There was more silence, the Levi responded, “Yeah, no, I would definitely not say that he was okay. Let me talk to Erwin.”

Levi put the phone on speaker. “What’d you do this time, Erwin?”

Erwin sounded a little worried. "I stayed with Armin at a hotel last night. Then I told him we could do some things for his birthday this morning." 

"Okay..." 

It was around 6 AM and Nile called me, and said we had some urgent business, we had to talk about the attack and the Trost. So I needed to go see him.”

“So?”

“So I left.”

“Right then? While you were with Armin?” Levi asked, his eyes squinting in disbelief. 

“Nile said it was urgent.”

Levi threw his hands up in the air. “So tell him to fuck off! It’s Nile!”

Erwin cleared his throat. “You know I couldn’t do that, Levi.”

“So what’s the deal? Armin was mad because you had to cut the date short? Just make it up to him. Come to the thing tonight and bring him...I don't know flowers or a book or something to show you're sorry.”

Erwin didn’t respond.

“Or...is it something else?" Levi asked slowly. "Erwin...don’t tell me…you...you didn't...just…leave...” 

“I didn’t think I would be gone that long, and I didn’t want to wake him. By the time I got back he had left. All his stuff was gone, and I don't have his number. He has mine but hasn't called me. I'm worried and I don't know what to do. I thought he might be at Hange's but he's not here.”

"Of course he hasn't, called you, you jackass! He thinks you just chased him down for an easy hook up again. Have you lost your mind?" Levi exploded. 

“You fucking idi--!” Eren began, but Levi held his hand up in an ‘I’ll take care of this’ gesture.

“You are a fucking idiot.” He said, stealing Eren’s line. “He won’t forgive you this time, I hope you know that. I don’t know Armin well, but I know what I saw this morning. There's no coming back from that one.”

Erwin didn’t respond, he just chewed on his lip on the other end of the phone line.

“He’s not going to forgive himself for that.” Eren said sickly. “He probably hates himself so much right now. He feels unwanted, and used, and undesirable. Armin's a complicated person. But he's had a really shitty relationship past, and that was really, really fucked up. You're a bastard, I hope you know that. If anything happens to him, know it's all your fault.”

“I’m…”

“You’re a real dick, Erwin. I know you've always had your infatuation with duty, and the military, and all things having to be in a straight line and having your boxes checked and i's dotted and t's crossed and what not. But you've really fucked someone over now because of how selfish you are. Either fuck off, and go back to your life on your boat, or commit to actually caring for someone. You can't have it both ways.” Levi said, hanging up the phone, not giving Erwin time to respond.

Erwin bit his lip. Levi had never been so harsh to him before, but he was right. Absolutely right. He had screwed Armin over again because of his career goals. He had to decide what he cared more about, Armin, or what he had spent his whole life investing into, The Trost, the Navy, the sea.

Eren looked at Levi, who was crushing his phone in his hand out of anger. "I’m going to call him again.” Eren said, dialing Armin's number.

\--

Armin struggled against Jean’s grasp on his body. His dismal emotions from seconds previously were now replaced with absolute terror. Jean pressed him tightly into his own body, one hand slipping into his pants, splaying across his stomach, the other squeezing around his throat as he used a couple fingers to turn Armin’s head, capturing his petrified, crystal blue gaze in his own emerald stare. Jean smirked. 

“I always knew I’d find you whoring yourself out at some bar. It’s pretty early though, even for you. You must of just hopped off some guy’s dick a few minutes ago, the way those marks look on you.” He said, running the pad of his thumb over the visible hickies on Armin’s throat.  
“I thought for sure I’d have to go through my jackass cousin and that 8 foot tall squid* to get you back. But here you are. All by your lonesome self.” He said, leaning down and running his tongue messily around the shell of Armin's ear.

“You're not here.” Armin said, reaching his hands up and clawing at Jean’s arm.  “You’re supposed to be in jail.” Armin struggled.

“Is that so?" Jean said with a raspy laugh. "Assault and Battery is an easy crime to dismiss when you don't have any witnesses. I just smiled at the judge and got a couple week’s community service. But I still owe you for that. It’s very rude to try to have your boyfriend thrown in jail, you know.”

Armin was beyond terrified as Jean’s large hands squeezed him tighter. "You're not my boyfriend, you're crazy. Let go of me." He choked. 

Jean pretended he didn't hear him and continued to lick his ear, whispering into it harshly. “You look so sad, little baby cockslut. Is it because you haven’t had a load blown inside you within the last 10 minutes? You always were so exceptionally needy." His hand inside Armin's pants went lower, tracing the outline of his member through the outside of his boxers while Armin's body trembled, helpless in Jean's strong, long arms. "Don’t cry. I’ll take good care of you, just like I used to, remember? I'll fill you with my cum every day. You won't need anyone else but me. And don't worry. The first thing I’ll do is get rid of every trace of that filthy squid on you.” He traced over one of Armin’s hickies with his thumb. “He’ll never make you cry again. The only one who can make you cry is me.”

He squeezed Armin’s throat, making him wiggle around in panic, the other hand freely fondling his package over his underwear. Jean was so much bigger and stronger than him, and so intimidating. He was so scared. He didn’t usually fight. He wasn’t much of a fighter. But he was today. 

He reached out and grabbed a vase that was sitting on a closeby table. He was barely able to reach it with just the tip of his middle finger, and grasped it with the top of his hand, swinging it and cracking it over Jean’s head. It crashed off his head and shattered into a million pieces.  Jean’s head started to bleed as he dropped Armin to the ground, putting his hand up against the wound on his temple.

Jean swore repeatedly, looking at the blood on his hand, as Armin scrambled to get up off the ground, Jean laughed. “You've got a lot of energy, did you sleep good last night? Somebody suck you off?" He laughed again. "You’ve grown. your hair, your body is strong too. You look hideous, dressed up like you think you’re a real man.” he said, shaking his head. “Don’t worry. I’ll fix you. Soon you'll be skinny and small like you should be. You don’t need to be strong. I’ll take care of you. All you need to do is be good for me and is take my cock like the pretty cumslut I know you are. I can’t wait to see your mouth stuffed full of my cock again. How many men have tried you out while I’ve been away? Maybe you’ve gotten better. I can’t wait to put you on your knees and find out.”

Jean aimed a punch for Armin’s jaw, but Armin put both his arms up in a block, deflecting it. He then shot his knee up into Jeans chest, knocking him back, and jumped back into a kick that nailed Jean in the head, dazing him. He finished with a dash, heading toward his bike in the parking lot. He knew he couldn’t fight Jean, really fight him one on one. Jean was much larger than him and stronger. Even with his new self defense skills he wasn't a match for him. 

Jean laughed as he followed after Armin, who was running down the small path on the way to the parking lot. "Wow! That’s impressive, a very nice kick. Are you in Krav Maga? I bet you love it don't you, having men pin you down to a mat. What sounds do you make for them? I bet you pretend like you don't like it, like you always do for me, screaming and begging me to stop. We both know you love it, being taken by force. Being bent over anything nearby and fucked until you cry. The way you fight back is so sensual. I bet you make all the men in your class absolutely hard, and you revel in that, don't you? Such a fucking tease. Like right now, you're running from me, but I know what you want more than anything is to be fucked into the ground right here until your hands and knees are scraped and bleeding, isn't that right, you hungry little whore?" 

“Stay away from me.” Armin said, turning around and backing up toward his destination as he looked at Jean. He tried to say it confidently, but he was obviously trembling.

“Why would I do that? I came to take you home.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Wrong. You belong to me, remember? We're going home together, to our home, where you belong. I’m going to fuck you senseless and carve my name into your flesh and bones and blood, until you can’t remember anyone or anything else except for me.”

Armin’s teeth chattered in fear. God, he hated this man. He had to get away but there was literally no one in sight to call for help. The woman working the bar had disappeared.  Jean lunged at Armin with both hands out, reaching for his throat again, and Armin knocked them away in a basic self defense tactic, his one hand reaching up grabbing one of Jean’s earrings, tearing it out and throwing it on the ground with a bloody flourish.

Jean responded with the back of his fist to Armin’s nose, sending a spray of blood across the walkway as Armin’s nose bled, dripping down his shirt.

“Shit, you bitch!” Jean yelled, holding his bloody ear, as his hole was ripped open and the blood dripped down the side of his neck. Armin’s phone buzzed again, and he wondered if he could answer it and run at the same time. He decided against it, instead scrambling away from Jean, hurring as fast as he could the few rest of the feet to the parking lot where his bike was. He was almost there. He could make it. He was into the parking lot when the world got impossibly, swimmingly blurry and he suddenly felt drunk and nauseated. He fell to the ground on his knees, everything around him spinning. 

“Fucking finally.” Jean said, leisurely walking to catch up with him, hand holding his bleeding ear. "That took a lot longer than 10 minutes."

“What did you do to me?” Armin gasped, falling forward on his hands and reaching out in front of him, not sure if he was reaching for the ground or something to steady himself.”

“Liquid Ecstasy. You’re welcome. I had my co-worker Sheyla over there put it in your drink. I work here, did you know that? I knew you’d be back here. It was just a matter of time." He crouched down, running his hand over Armin's chin, pulling it up so his half lidded blue eyes meet his sneering green orbs. "I’m really going to enjoy having you at home again, bitch." 

“No.” Armin whispered, trying to move again, but instantly collapsing in Jean's arms, feeling like he was drunk and tired and couldn't keep his eyes open.

“You’ll love it." Jean said, caressing his face. "It’ll sedate you, but also make you a little more pliable. We have a little reconditioning to do I think, but a little discipline should put you right back in your place.”

Armin slipped into unconsciousness, and Jean scooped him up, throwing him over his shoulder easily.

Armin’s phone slid out of his pocket, dropping to the ground, the screen shattering as it hit, displaying a picture of he and Eren’s smiling face as the unanswered call went to voicemail. 

\--

Eren arrived at Connie’s shop Pins and Needles that evening, crushed that Armin had been ignoring his calls all day.

“Maybe he just needed some time alone after everything. He could have been hurt that you were with me, since Erwin and I are associated. You’ll be together now and it will be a good time to talk. I can leave if you want.” Levi ventured.

Eren shrugged. “We’ll see what he says. He’s usually really reasonable, I don’t think he would lie to me.”

“Hey, buddy!” Connie, Eren and Armin's squatty friend from high school greeted Eren and Levi at the entrance of his shop, leaning in for a high five.

“Hey Connie. Where’s Armin? Sorry we’re a little late, there was traffic. Armin and I haven’t even gone over designs yet.”

Connie’s brow furrowed. “I thought you were all coming together. I haven’t seen him.”

Eren tried Armin’s phone again, which rang and rang and went to voicemail. They waited longer and longer, until a half hour turned into an hour, and then two hours had slipped away with still no sign of him.

“Would he have gone somewhere with someone?” Levi asked, trying to calm Eren down.

“I don’t think so, he doesn’t really have anyone he would be comfortable doing anything with, although I can see that this may have really fucked with his head so anything’s possible.”

“Well we’ll not think about that possibility right now.” Levi said. “Where would he have gone to be alone?”

Eren thought about it for a moment. “Either the library or the beach.”

"He does seem like a library type of person." 

"He likes books and will go there to write." 

"Levi nodded. "I think the library was closed, since it's the weekend, right?" 

Eren nodded. "Come on. I know where he'd go.”

They hopped in Eren’s forerunner and drove the darkened roads that Armin had followed earlier that morning to Armin's favorite bar on rockaway beach. They pulled into the parking lot, which was now filled with cars due to the night time crowd. 

“Oh my god, that’s his bike, he’s here.” Eren said, pointing at Armin's yellow motorcycle, parked in one of the far parking spots.

They looked over at the bar, which was busy now, with groups crowded around the long wooden seating area and the metal tables squished full of people. The Tiki torches were lit and couples were milling around laughing, while others looked over the railing at the darkened sea below.

The two ventured over to the bar, looking around but seeing no sign of the blonde. 

“Lets see if anyone recognizes him.” Eren suggested. 

Levi walked up to the bartender. “Excuse me, have you been working all day?" Was the first question he asked the strawberry blonde behind the counter.

"I have, it's been a long one!" She said with a flirtatious laugh. "Did you lose something, sweetheart?" 

Eren nodded. "This guy." He said, holding up a picture of Armin on his phone. "Have you seen him?" 

The girl looked at the picture and squinted. “Sorry, sweety, can’t say that I have.”

Levi frowned. He didn't like the bartender immediately, and somehow got the feeling that she was lying. Armin's bike was here, and he had been here, why would she lie about not seeing him?

Eren nodded, and then they stepped back, hearing a quiet crunch under their feet. Looking down they noticed a spray of shattered glass on the ground. Most had been cleaned up, but there was still some shards spread around, along with a very noticable blood spatter.

“What the hell.” Levi whispered.

Eren shrugged with a bitter look on his face. "I don't know what to do. Let's go back to Armin’s bike. I’ll try calling him again. Maybe he did go home with someone?"

They walked toward where Armin’s bike was parked a little ways away, Eren holding his phone to his ear as he dialed Armin’s number. There was a low unrecognizable vibrating noise as they got closer to the bike, and Eren gasped, covering his mouth. Near Armin's bike was a smartphone, slightly lighting up as it vibrated. It was face up with the screen cracked, but as it vibrated, a picture of Eren showed on the screen. 

“Armin. Oh my god, this is Armin’s phone.” Eren trembled.

Levi took out his smartphone from his pocket, and using the flashlight, he shone it around on the ground, noticing more blood spatter, which spread across the small parking lot and down the path that led to the bar. As Eren gently picked up the cracked phone and inspected it, Levi looked around, following the blood trail and examining the area. He noticed something small and bloody that barely caught the light from phone. He picked up the tiny blood stained object from the ground.

“Does Armin have any body jewelry?” Levi asked, twirling the small item fingers, then dropping it into Eren’s outstretched palm.

“No. Nononononono.” Eren cried out as he inspected it. It was an earring, handmade and one of a kind. It was a thin, circular piece of dark wood, with a lotus flower intricately carved on it in a beautiful complicated design.  He fell to his knees, holding the small earring between his palms. He gulped, then his back arched like he was going to vomit.

"What is it? What?" Levi asked in a concerned voice. 

"These...this, these..." He couldn't get the words out, he was gasping for breath. "This earring is part of a handcarved set. Armin made them in this stupid craft class he took a few years ago. He gave one to me," He said, pulling back his hair and showing the small wooden earring pressed into his cartilage. "He gave the other one...to Jean." His forehead hit the ground as he crumpled in defeat. "He's with Jean."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *squid can be a derogatory nick-name for a sailor.


	13. We Can't Have Faith For Everyone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone! Thank you so much for reading. I love your comments and kudos so much, They make me laugh, cry, and give me awesome ideas. :) It really make everything worth it knowing you all are into the story as much as I am! <3
> 
> Chapter 13. Um, disclaimer. I guess *scratches head* Don't rape and drug people and do terrible things like that. There are villains and heroes in the world. Be an Eren. Not a Jean. Enough said.

Armin groggily regained consciousness, immediately experiencing the sharp feeling of pain ripping into his skin and the sensation of drowning. 

His eyes slowly blinked open, his whole body feeling as if it were moving in slow motion. His throat constricted in panic as he realized there was water in his nose and mouth. He tried to focus on the situation, coughing to get the water out of his airway, as another searing pain tore across his body in a different location.

“Don’t struggle. If I cut too deep, I’ll actually kill you.” The familiar voice made Armin's stomach clench in terror. It sounded like it was very far away, like it was coming from the end of a tunnel. Armin blinked his eyes more, shapes coming into focus as he slowly came to. 

“Are you finally awake?” Jean’s voice was closer now, and a pain across Armin’s gut made him let out a muffled groan. He realized there was something soggy stuffed in his mouth, and water was seeping into it and dripping down his throat, giving him the experience of being waterboarded.

His hands were secured above him, making him nearly immobile as another pain, this time in his shoulder, made him cry out into the gag again. 

He blinked, and this finally the world came blearily into focus. He was in the a shower, Jean was in front of him, completely naked, wet and hard, holding a straight razor that was dripping with blood. Looking down, he saw blood mixed with water running down his body. His bound hands were looped over the shower head, his toes barely able to touch the ground in a very uncomfortable and vulnerable position. 

“I’m glad you’re finally awake. I was starting to think I’d killed you already.” Jean said with a sneer.

Armin shook at the words. His body was placed directly under the showerhead, water falling straight onto his face, getting in his nose and completely soaking into the rag that was stuffed in his mouth. He felt like he was drowning, and tried to cough, his whole body shaking. Jean was cutting small marks into his body with his razor, and with the choked cough, the sharp blade slid across Armin’s hip, cutting deeper into the incision Jean was making. 

“I told you not to struggle, now look what you've done.” Jean scolded mockingly. The blonde tilted his head down. The taller man was putting an “X” mark over each of Erwin’s kiss marks, creating a waterfall of blood down his body. 

“Tip your chin up. Up. And hold still if you want to live. I told you that I’d wash that squid’s marks off of you, didn’t I?” He said, grasping Armin’s chin roughly with one hand and moving his razor up to his throat. Armin froze as Jean carved the X marks over the light pink hickies down the side of his neck, knowing that one wrong move would allow Jean to easily and fatally slit his throat. He allowed the water to go up his nose and soak into the rag, blocking his airway.  He felt like he was dying.

“There. All done.” Jean said, running his hand around the blonde's thin, exposed waist, smearing blood around his stomach. He leaned forward and closed his lips over one of the X marks on his neck, sucking the blood from the wound slowly in a dominating, predatory action. 

Jean was completely naked, revealing his strong, toned body to Armin. He was much larger than him in every way, from the width of his hips to the length of his arms. His thick member was long and uncut and already dripping precum from watching Armin in pain.  

“Now let’s fix you up.” He said as he lathered up Armin’s face with shaving cream. Armin rarely grew facial hair on purpose, but hadn’t shaved in the last couple of day and had a bit of blonde stubble growing in. He shaved Armin’s face, nicking him on purpose on the jawline as punishment for moving. Next He grabbed Armin’s leg and preformed a similar action, slowly dragging the razor up his fine, toned leg, ridding it of all his leg hair, while Armin grunted in protest. On his grunt he jolted, and Jean gave him a deep cut in his calf as punishment. 

“Don’t move, slut. You belong to me, remember?” 

He did the same to the other leg, making his legs completely smooth. He lathered up his arms next, the position tough as they were above his head, and Armin was forced to tilt his head back again, letting the water run up his nose and allowing the rag to slip farther back down his throat to let Jean get the right position to shave his arm and armpits. The water in his throat made him cough, which caused the blade to slip multiple times, cutting long stripes of red down his thin arms.  Lastly, Armin squeezed his eyes shut as Jean shaved around his short, flaccid length and ran the razor down his back and butt, making his body completely smooth. 

“Better.” Jean hummed. He undid Armin’s bun, pulling his blonde hair forward so it rested on either shoulder. It had grown long, nearly to his nipples, and the taller man shook his head in disapproval. He took the straight razor, and grabbed a handful of hair that was over one shoulder, hacking it with the sharp blade, cutting it at his chin in an ugly, choppy cut. He grabbed the hair off the other shoulder, doing the same to it, and dropped the long lengths of soggy, golden hair on the floor behind him. He ran his large hands through Armin’s golden locks, the uneven, short haircut making him look much younger. Armin protested against the gag, earning him a hard slap in the face from Jean. 

“This is how you should look.” 

He un-looped Armin’s hands from the showerhead, and turned him around roughly, bending him over and slamming his face into the shower wall. 

“You’re perfect now.” He said, carding his fingers through Armin’s wet, short hair, looking at the blood running down his body and spiraling into the drain along with the long strands of his hair. 

He grabbed Armin by the blonde locks, holding him against the wall while he slipped two fingers in his unprepared hole. Armin whimpered loudly into the gag, but Jean pulled his head back and slammed it into the wall, again, stunning him a bit before he wrenched Armin’s head back, green eyes meeting blue. 

“Don’t even think about fighting me.” He said, as he slid his hand down around Armin’s throat, the other arm looping around his waist as he pushed into him while he wasn't near ready. Armin cried out into the gag. 

“Aaah. Amazing. You’re so tight, just like you used to be.” Jean moaned, clenching his hand around the blonde’s throat and grasping his hips, the blood from his body running down over his arm. He thrust into him, Armin’s screams muffled only by the gag. 

“Mmm, I love it when you scream like that. I know you like it, you don’t have to worry. I’ll use you like this every day. I’ll feed your hungry little hole with my cock until you’re overflowing with my cum.” He squeezed his throat possessively. “Things will be just like how they used to be. Just you and me. Aaah. So tight, I love the way you clench around me. Seeing you stretched out over my cock like this. It’s so arousing. Remember when we used to fuck like this in the showers after your swim meets? You used to love it so much. Begging me for more until you came on the tile wall. You were so loud, it would echo through the locker room, I would always have to cover your mouth. I knew you were just wanting someone to catch us. You came three times that night after your swim coach saw us.” 

He thrust into him harder. “Such an exhibitionist. I bet you would love this even more if Eren was watching, and that enormous blonde squid. Aah, wouldn’t you want them to watch me come inside you? Claim you as my bitch? My cumslut? Would you like them to watch me cum all over that prissy, pouty mouth of yours? You’d love that, wouldn’t you? Eating my cum while they watched? You’re such a whore. Such a filthy, slutty whore. And I’m going to fuck you like one. You deserve this, you know." He thrust into him harder, his hand tightening around his throat. “I know you like it like this. You always have, even when you pretend like you don’t.” Tears leaked out of the corners of Armin’s eyes, mixing with the water and blood that ran down his body.

\--

The door to Mike and Hange’s house burst open, and Levi entered followed immediately by Eren. 

Mike, Erwin and Hange were sitting around the kitchen table with an old, battered deck of cards dealt out between them and a small pile of money in the middle of the table. 

“What? What’s going on?” Mike asked, looking from Eren’s distressed face to Levi’s expression of worry and easily noticing there was something not right.

“Armin’s gone.” Levi answered. 

Hang crinkled her eyebrows. “Like what do you mean gone? Like he packed his bags and left?”

No. At least I don’t think so. No.” Levi said as he processed it harder. “He got taken away by his ex-boyfriend.”

Eren had moved across the room, and with a smack, he plowed his fist into the side of Erwin’s face. "You bastard, this is all your fault!”  

Erwin recoiled from the heavy hit, and Eren swung his other fist for another strike, which this time Erwin blocked with his forearm.

Levi hurried across the room, grabbed Eren by his forearms and yanked him away from Erwin while the brunette growled viciously.  

He pulled his dog tag out of Eren’s shirt and pressed it to his neck in order to show him it was there and remind him he was wearing it. He stood on his toes while he whispered in Eren’s ear. 

“Be calm. This isn’t helping anyone. I need you to focus and let's figure this out. There will be a time for anger later, but now it’s time to think and find out what happened to Armin. He’s all that matters.”

Eren nodded, his body becoming limp in Levi’s arms.

“What happened?” Erwin asked, alarmed as he stood from the table. His blue eyes focused in on Levi, who had wrapped one hand gently around Eren’s stomach, the other he was running down the front of Eren’s windpipe in a protective and soothing action, which made Eren loll his head back on to the smaller’s shoulder. 

“Jean has Armin.” Levi responded. 

“Jean…?” Mike had heard the name before but wasn’t quite sure he knew what was going on. 

“Armin’s ex. He’s a menace. He was on the Trost under Erwin’s command but when he saw Armin and Erwin during fleet week he tried to seriously hurt them. That was what brought us all together, strangely enough, but that’s not important.”

“We put Jean away. He was court martialed and discharged and booked on assault and battery.” Erwin said.

“Yes. I don’t know how he’s not in jail. But we found something of his. Something one of a kind, and there was signs that something had happened to Armin." 

“Signs how?” Hange asked.

“There was blood. Everywhere. Jean’s earring, and Armin’s broken phone.” Eren twisted uncomfortably in Levi’s arms. Levi didn’t know how long he’d be able to hold onto Eren. He wasn’t going to be okay with all this happening. If something truly happened to Armin, it would break him. 

“Jean is crazy, and we need to do something. He’ll kill Armin. He’s tried before.” Levi finished.

Hange nodded. “I’ve heard. We’ll start right away and do everything we can.” She nudged her head at Mike. “Get out the stuff?” 

“All of it?” 

Hange shrugged. “As much as necessary. We don’t need the rifles and everything yet. Eren already knows our secrets, there’s no point hiding our gear from him.” She said, flashing her quirky smile.

Mike went to the back room and came back a while later with a large military bag. He unzipped it and pulled out two small grey cases, standard military 9mm Sig Sauer pistols, one for Erwin and one for Levi, and set a few other things out on the table. Levi, Erwin and Mike immediately began going through the bag, pulling out various odds and ends, some of which Eren didn't recognize. Electronics, maps, compasses, and various weapons of all types. 

"Hey, no grenades. Put that back." Levi said firmly to Mike, who frowned as he placed a long cylindrical item back into the bag. 

From the bottom of the bag Mike pulled out a heavy Kevlar vest and handed it to Levi. It had four bullets already imbedded it it and Levi smiled at it warmly. 

“Aww, this is mine.”

“Good times. It literally saved your life. More than once. It could probably fit Eren if it comes to that. It’ll be a little short, but the most important parts will be protected.” Mike responded. 

Levi handed the vest to Eren, who took it and tried it on. It fit well, except being a couple inches too short. He looked at the large, flattened bullets imbedded in it and gulped, thinking about how these were four times that Levi could have died. Without this vest, they would have never met. 

“Do I get a gun?” Eren asked, as he watched Levi and Erwin inspecting their weapons. Levi had moved away from behind Eren and was now standing closely beside him at the kitchen table, looking over the supplies Mike was passing out. 

"No." Levi said immediately. 

“Do you know how to use one?” Mike asked next.

“I’ve gone to the shooting range. And watched a lot of movies.” Eren responded, picking up a small interestingly shaped item which he was unfamiliar with, that Erwin immediately disarmed him of. 

"That's gas. You don't want to play with that." He said, sliding it across the table to Hange. 

Mike was holding out a pistol to Eren. “Could you take a life? Could you point a gun at someone and squeeze the trigger, knowing they’d be gone forever? Watch their blood spatter all over the ground and be alright with that?” Eren took the weapon, it was heavy and colder than he expected. He gulped. 

“Don’t ask him that, Mike.” Levi scolded, taking the gun from Eren.  “Give him a Taser or something.”

Mike dug through the bag. “Knife?” He said, holding up a long, steel military issue knife to Eren. 

“That can be dangerous if you don’t know how to use it. Most inexperienced people who carry knives end up getting gutted with their own weapon.” Erwin cut in, while he inspected the parts of his pistol. He had taken his whole weapon apart and was cleaning the individual parts with a small rag while Eren looked on, fascinated at the way the blonde handled the firearm with ease. 

“Brass knuckles then? He knows how to use his fists.” Mike said, pulling an ominous looking pair of brass knuckles with spikes along the impact side, crusted with an old, copper film.  
Hange approved the weapon as she looked over her own collection on the table. “Yeah. I’m fine with that. The brass knuckles sounds safe enough.” Hange’s own collection looked like old fashioned lab equipment and an antenna and old laptop, but she was also handling a small well used handgun and two short knifes with a curved blades that looked ominous. 

Levi smiled as Mike handed him the set of brass knuckles. 

“Were these yours, Levi?” Eren asked, noticing Levi's approval. 

“No.” He said softly. "They were Farlan's. He was a brawler like you. Dumbass, he liked getting his hands dirty.”

Eren slid the brass knuckles onto his hands. “Thank you for letting me use them.”

Levi smiled. “They'll suit you.” His eyes meeting with Erwin's, then moved back to Eren's. "No friendly fire. Or you lose your weapons privileges."

"Yeah. Of course." Eren said, closing his hands around the foreign objects. 

Eren shivered at the thought he was going to get to see Levi’s old team in action mobilizing to help Armin, but at the same time his head was spinning. He couldn’t think. Armin was missing. Armin was his whole world, like a fixture in his life it was impossible to lose, the other part of his heart. The more he thought about it the more panicked he got, and it looked like Levi knew he was approaching the edge of losing his sanity by the way he was speaking to him so gently.

“Where would Jean have taken Armin? Where would he be now, Eren, can you think of anywhere?”

“His house, probably. He lives downtown. I’m going there now." He said, slipping off the brass knuckles and Kevlar jacket and leaving them on the table. 

The front door opened, then closed as Eren disappeared outside.

Levi looked at Hange, who had already began to pull up information on her old fashioned looking computer. “Find Armin, Hange. I don’t care what it takes. I have to go take care of him.” He said, motioning to the front door Eren had just exited from. 

She nodded. “Watch out for him.”

Levi nodded. “I will.”

Erwin stood, "Wait, Levi. Let me come with you.” 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Levi countered. “If you really want to be helpful, then help Hange. More people are helpful when it comes to all that tracking and mapping stuff. Also, I don’t think Eren’s quite ready to talk to you.”

He opened the door, chasing after Eren. He caught up with him a half a block down, as he was just turning to enter a convenience store. 

Eren bought two packs of cigarettes and a lighter, immediately putting one of the cheap cigarettes in his mouth when he hit the street. His vice had reared its ugly head instantaneously, Armin would be so disappointed in him. He hated it when Eren smoked, and here he was, not even able to be without him for a few hours. Pathetic. 

“Where does Jean live?” Levi asked as he appeared next to him on the street. He hadn't seen Eren smoke before, and considering that he clothes didn't smell of it, he assumed it wasn't a habit. It must be a nervous tell.

“Wireton Estates.” He replied, clenching the cigarette between his lips and putting a hand up to shield it from the wind as he lit it.

They called an Uber, and after a short, quiet drive they got to a ritzy neighborhood, and pulled up in front of a large three story house. 

“Here, for real?” Levi gaped. The house was enormous and modern, with big windows and a neat black on silver color scheme. 

“Yeah. His parents, my aunt and uncle, were loaded so he came in to a lot of money when they passed.”

The pair went up to the front door and knocked. A few minutes later Jean came to the entrance, wearing athletic boxers low on his hips, still looking wet from a shower.

He looked from Eren to Levi. “Jaeger.” He sounded out the name slowly, “Ah. And Captain Levi. I didn’t think I would see you ever again. To what do I owe this unpleasant surprise?” He asked, drying his hair with a towel.

“Where’s Armin?” Eren lashed out, reaching forward and roughly grabbing Jean by the arm.  

“Who?” Jean asked, looking impassive.

“Armin, you asshole, I know you did something to him!”

“Armin.” Jean said, feigning a thoughtful face. “Oh, Armin, right. Yeah, that prissy pony that you’re always palling around with? Right. Don’t know, haven’t seen him since that time in the club a few months ago where he cried like a little bitch.” He shrugged. “Why would I care where my ex is? I’ve moved on.”

“I know you did something to him. We found your lotus flower earring that he made for us on the ground at Rockaway beach.” Eren growled. 

Jean’s eyes widened, and then he sneered. “Did you now? How interesting. I suppose you got a warrant to search my home based on finding someone’s lost earring, hmm? No, probably not. Because that’s not exactly solid evidence, and you’re not policemen. ”

“What happened to your ear?” Levi asked, pointing at the ripped open earring hole.

“Caught it on my blender.”

“How did you catch your ear on a blender?” Eren asked accusingly.

“Hilarious thing, that. It's a great story, but I’m naked, and it's cold out here, not to mention you’re also keeping me from the last 10 minutes of Flip or Flop, which is the best part. So I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“I know you have him.” Eren snarled. “We’re going to get him back from you, you monster.”

Jean laughed. “I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. But you sound pretty serious about that, and I’d have to warn you, some people get pretty possessive about the things that belong to them. So much so, that I would tell you, that if you come around here looking for Armin again, I will put a bullet in his head, and then yours. At least that’s what I’d tell you, if I had him.” He paused with a sneer, letting his words sink in. “Have a good night. Lets get a beer some time and catch up.”

He slammed the door in their faces.

\--

“Can you tell me what you know about Armin and Jean?” Erwin asked as he went through the large military bag still set on Hange’s kitchen table, picking up a dusty scope and putting it to his eye. 

Hange, who was furiously working on her computer crinkled her eyebrows at Erwin's question. “That’s a breach of doctor patient confidentiality, but in this case, I’ll tell you." She sighed as if it were a chore.  
"The two were dating for about 5 years. They started dating when Armin and Eren were in college. Jean was not in college with them, I don't think he went, or he went something else, or...anyway, doesn't matter." She said, waving off the derailment. "Anyway, Armin was always smaller than Jean, but very smart and capable also, he was a swimmer and got excellent grades and was able to take care of himself.  From what I’ve been told, things were going well for a while, quite a while. He and Armin got on great, he was supportive and they were really good together and both very happy. But I think as Armin graduated from college and the two moved in together, Jean just got really possessive when he saw Armin going out with Eren and other friends, saw how smart and able bodied he was. He wanted to keep him to himself, so he got abusive, verbally, emotionally, eventually physically. Possessiveness can be a dangerous thing.”

Mike came out of the back bedroom, holding an armful of dark clothes. 

“But why is this happening? They broke up, right? It's been quite a few months, Jean joined the Navy, what instigated this?” Mike asked, holding up an olive green Commando military sweater, then noticing the size, he threw it at Erwin, who saw the flying object out of the corner of his eye and reached to catch it. 

Hange shrugged, “Who knows. Its seems like he’s sort of always been this way for Armin. This sort of dark passion is dangerous, and scary.  When someone is obsessed with another person, there’s often not a lot of rhyme or reason to their actions. It seems like Jean is stuck in a love/hate relationship with Armin. He wants what they had back then, he wants Armin to be only with him, but he feels betrayed by him, because in his mind Armin cheated on him by spending time with other men, when Jean wanted him all to himself. Jean wants to punish Armin for that, and feels like it will make Armin dependent on him, which was what he wanted in the first place. We’ve already seen that Jean’s not afraid to hurt Armin. If he has this level of obsession with him, then he might, he will, get seriously hurt.”

Erwin bit his lip. “We have to find him.”

Mike nodded in agreement as he pulled on a similar sweater to the one he just gave Erwin, except in a dark navy color. “Yes, we do.”

Hange gave a deep sigh, then decided to address the elephant in the room. “Erwin, listen. I’m not saying that this is your fault. This is Jean’s fault, and he’s a psychopath. But you know, what you did to Armin, using him like that, it's not okay.”

“I didn’t mean to use him, even though that’s definitely what it looks like. And I know it wasn’t okay. I know.” He sighed painfully, slipping his shirt off and pulling on the olive green sweater Mike offered him. “I’m sorry. I’ve never been with anyone before. The Navy is the only thing I’ve ever known.” He sighed again, trying to get his words out. 

"You'd better be glad you didn't try that excuse on Eren first, because you may have lost some teeth. That was one of the shittiest excuses ever, Erwin." Mike said. 

"No, what I mean is," Erwin sighed, "I've never had to care about anything, ever, except for my command. They Navy, my duty, has been my #1 priority for more than 20 years. And now this angel comes along, and he's perfect, and...fragile and complicated. He’s like a little beautiful, perfect glass doll. It's like I want to be with him all the time every day forever, but I don't understand the logistics, because inside, I'm just a commander. I don't understand what he expects from me. I've never had anything to think of like this before, and for my entire life, there's never been anything more important to me than duty, until now. And I don't know how to grapple with the situation." 

Erwin sighed for a third time before continuing. “I just, I want him in my life so badly, but I don’t know how to do that, because I’ve never had anything to prioritize other than my post.”

“Maybe you should have tried telling him that.” Mike cut in, his voice smooth “He’s not a child. Even though he sort of looks like one. And he did really have feelings for you, and you hurt him deeply, twice. You can't expect forgiveness a third time. Don't expect it.”

Erwin clenched his fists. “Even if he doesn't forgive me, I need him to know. I'll tell him the truth this time.”

“What are you going to tell him?” 

Erwin reached into his wallet and pulled out his dog tag, tossing it on the table next to the military bag.

“Everything. That I don’t know what the fuck I'm doing. I never had. I'm an old man stuck in my ways. All I know is that I'm enamored with him, and that he's amazing and beautiful and he’s the one that I want in my life. I don't know what it will take to have him forgive me, to have him want me again, if he will. But if he wants me to quit, to get a job here, then I'll do it. I’d do it for him." 

“That was a pretty quick change of heart you had there.” Hange said, swiveling in her chair, not looking at him. 

Erwin sighed, looking down. “I’m older now. We all are. I know well enough when there’s something...someone is worth holding on to. And I'll fight for him.. He’s the only person like him that I’ve ever met. I really care for him.”

“Really? You’ve done a bang up job of showing him you care about for him so far.” Mike said. 

He was in awe that the two boys had stole his friends' hearts so quickly. After so many years of friendship they were siding against him on something, and the pain was radiating through his chest as he spoke. 

“I know. I know I hurt him. More than once. I don’t deserve his forgiveness again.” He said, rubbing the back of his head. 

“Well, you better damn well make it up to him if you want to earn it.” Hange said, swiveling and looking at him. “And big time. Because he trusted you, and after everything he went through, is going through right now, I doubt he’d ever want to have anyone near him ever again.”

“How do I make it up to him?”

Hange stood from her chair, turning to where he was. She pushed the gun and scope across the table at him. “Sorry isn’t a word. It’s an action. Show him. Show him you’re sorry for treating him like he was nothing. Show him that he’s worth fighting for.”

Erwin leaned forward, picking up the pistol and the scope. He nodded at Hange. "I will." 

\--

Jean laid Armin onto a table, still wet from the shower and blood still dripping from his wounds. He secured a blindfold over his eyes and chained one hand down on each side of the table, and did the same with his ankles.

“What are you doing to me.” He gasped out. “Jean, let me go.”

Jean responded by pouring a little liquid down his throat from a vial. “You’re getting rowdy. It's time to take your medicine. I promise after I finish claiming you I’ll play with you. So needy, little cockslut. Can’t wait 10 minutes before begging for more of my cum? I just gave it to you in the shower, but I promise I’ll feed you more later.”

He pulled out a large scalpel and began to trace letters into Armin’s chest while the blonde screamed trying to pull away from the blade, but not being able to move being tied to the table. 

“I love it when you scream like that. I know you like the pain, don’t you?” He asked. “I should record your scream so that I can jerk off to it at work. Its so perfect. I love the sounds you make.”

Armin continued to cry out as Jean cut into his chest, the blood dripping down his small torso to pool on the sides of him on the table.

He passed out moments later, Jean still carving into him, not sure if it was from the blood loss, pain, or the drug.

\--

The overweight, uninterested policeman stared back at Eren and Levi. It was 9am the next day, they had waited all night for the police station to open. Now they stood in the overcrowded, loud lobby, and the officer stared at them like he could care less about their story. 

“How long has he been missing?” He asked for the second time. 

“Since yesterday morning, we just said that.” Levi said. They had been at the window for 20 minutes already and were getting nowhere. Eren’s face showed a mix of anger and absolute hopelessness. 

“And yesterday was his birthday?” The cop asked, chewing on his gum loudly. 

Eren nodded. 

“Look, kids,” He sighed, leaning back in his chair and exposing his large belly, “That’s barely been 24 hours. He may’a just picked up a nice strumpet at a bar and gone home and had a good time. Birthdays can get pretty wild when ya younger, and ya never really know a person.”

Eren gritted his teeth. “I do. I know him. And that’s NOT what happened.” He clenched his fists, his nostrils flaring in anger. Levi hoped their trip to the police station didn't end up with Eren lashing out and them in jail, that would do no one any good. “Something bad happened to him, we saw blood everywhere. Why don’t you believe us?” Eren raised a hand to slam it down on the counter but Levi caught it, wrapping the hand in his own, before Eren could make a scene.

The cop rolled his eyes. “Fine, kid, whateva ya say. I’m tellin’ you though, I bet in a couple hours he’s just gonna waltz right back in to your house smellin like beer and cheap perfume. Here, fill out this form.” He said, handing them a large form and a clipboard.  Eren and Levi sat down to fill the form out, Eren fuming, but at the same time tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. 

“Why doesn’t he believe us? These are fucking cops, its their job.” He grated, his voice quivering.

“He’s just a desk jockey. I’m sure we’ll get passed along to someone that will help. Don’t cry, okay? We need to focus. Focus. Eren, and do this, for Armin.” 

Eren nodded, wiping the angry tears from the corners of his eyes as he took the pen from Levi looking at the form. It asked detailed questions about the missing person, when he was last seen, his mental health, height, weight, and temperament. Eren filled it out easily, like he was filling in questions about himself. 

“Did ya bring a photo?” The cop asked when they returned the form and clipboard a few minutes later. 

“Yeah.” Eren said, pulling out a recent one, of Armin dressed in his sweats and a tee shirt, sitting at his writing desk with his hair back in a ponytail. He was giving a small, close-lipped smile to the camera. The cop looked it over. “Is this recent?” He asked, and Eren nodded. 

“He may also look like this.” Eren murmured, pulling out a second picture from his back pocket. The picture was bent in half and worn, with little pinholes in it like it had been hung on a bulletin board. There was a tall, handsome boy with sandy hair, his arm wrapped around a smaller man, pulling him in for a kiss on the cheek. The smaller man was very thin, his chest exposed with a towel around his neck He was wearing a speedo and had goggles hanging from his left hand. His body was thin but toned, and he wore a large smile as his boyfriend smashed his lips into his cheek. Armin and Jean. Armin’s flaxen hair was cut short, to about his chin, and he was soaking wet, water droplets shining on the ends of his hair and dripping down on his Jean's cheek. He had no arm hair or visible body hair, as was common with most swimmers. The picture was taken in a pool facility, and the scene behind them looked like some sort of competition was going on. Levi peered at the old picture as Eren handed it over to the cop. 

“He looks so young.” Levi said.

“That was when they first started dating. Armin was in college, on the swim team. They were really happy together. I have a feeling...it's how Jean would want him to look.”

Levi grimaced at the wording Eren had used.

The officer paper clipped the information together and threw it haphazardly in a wire basket next to him.

“We’ll be in touch.”

\--

Armin awoke again. He didn’t know where he was. He had recognized the bathroom from before as their old house, but now he was somewhere new. It was a large room, the walls and floor made from black tile, which looked expensive. He knew Jean was wealthy, so something elaborate wasn’t beyond him, but that didn’t explain where he was. Another house? A hotel? He was laid on a large, black metal framed bed, next to the bed sat a black night side stand. The room was filled with a few cupboards, one was slightly open and he could see a plethora of whips, canes and small knives. Nearby the bed was a long, metal table.

Armin was in a daze and covered with crusted blood and cum. He felt like he should be in pain, but he wasn’t, which terrified him. His whole body was numb. He looked down at his chest and saw something carved into him, it was red and puffed out, and Armin could see that it was the word “Jean.” Armin gasped as he reached forward to touch it, horrified, but as he ran his hand over it, he couldn't feel it.

“I have to get out of here.” He thought, but tried to get up from the bed and realized his ankle was chained to the bedframe below. He yanked at the chain, rattling the bed around, and then heard the door of the room open with a quiet squeak. Jean entered, dressed in khakis and a black button up like he had just come back from somewhere nice. What day was it? What time? He climbed onto the bed and yanked Armin back to the center of it. 

“Did you try to go somewhere? You get to stay right here with me. You’re my little whore, remember? I even wrote my name on you so that you don't forget." He said, playing with Armin’s short, soft hair and running his hand up his smooth body. He pressed his thumb into one of the X’s on his hips, which was a dull maroon color. His hard press was felt, shooting a pain through Armin’s body. For some reason, Armin was glad he could feel. It made him know he was alive. 

“You’re body’s so smooth. Just like it used to be. Absolutely perfect. I loved fucking you on the counter in our kitchen. Feeling the marble under your soft skin, it was absolute heaven.” He said, running his fingers down Armin’s face in almost a soft gesture. “That was before you turned into such a slut though. Did you do it with other men in our bed while I was at work? When I was fucking you so sweetly all those nights, making you cum over and over while you screamed my name, were you thinking of someone else?

Armin shook his head slightly in a “no” signal, and Jean grabbed his face tightly. 

“I don't believe a word that comes out of your whore mouth. It doesn’t matter anymore. You’re all mine now. You’ll make up for all the fucking around you did, won’t you?”

He unlocked his captive's ankle cuff, the red mark on his leg making him wonder how long he had been chained there. 

“Flip over and give me your ass. I’ve been waiting to ravage you all day.” The older man said hungrily. The blonde pulled away from him, his body shaky.

Jean grabbed him by the hair, slapping him in the face. Armin responded with a wad of spit, which he hawked from his mouth, hitting Jean on the bridge if his nose. 

The sandy-haired man dropped him to the mattress, wiping the spit off with one hand. The blonde used the second to slowly back away. 

“When I tell you to do something, then you do it.” He said, grabbing Armin by the hair again and yanking him back into the middle of the bed. He flipped him over and shoved his face down in the mattress. He was already naked, and had no idea where his clothes were. He had been naked the whole time, he was just an object to Jean. Pushing his face down into the mattress so he couldn’t see or breathe, Jean licked a finger and stuck it inside of him, Making Armin cry out into the sheets. 

“Finger yourself, you needy bitch. I want to watch you open yourself up.”

Armin didn’t move.

“Now.”

The blonde still didn’t respond to his demand.

“The larger man sighed. Fine. Then I’m going in how I am now.”

“No, no, wait, please, I’m sorry…” the smaller man begged in a raspy voice, but Jean dropped his pants, pressed the blonde's face to the mattress and slicked up his member with spit, pressing in without any preparation. Armin screamed in pain, tears running down his face as Jean shoved his head down into the mattress. His fingers clawed at the man behind him, but the larger man easily captured the blonde's hands and with a bruising grip held his wrists together behind his back. 

“Maybe now you’ll listen to me, won’t you? You deserve this, remember that.” He rammed into Armin, the little bit of spit not being enough prep and the smaller man screaming into the mattress. Each thrust Jean noticed blood on his dick from the rough treatment. 

“Maybe you’ll be more obedient next time.” He said as he roughly twisted his fingers in the blonde's hair, pressing his head in to the furniture.

\--

Eren stood on his balcony, blowing smoke out at the night, then putting out his cigarette in the overflowing ashtray. He looked down at his cigarette box. Empty. Again. He had to go to the store. He stumbled down the apartment steps. What had he been doing the last few days? Nothing. Smoking. Not sleeping. Absolutely fucking nothing, while Armin’s clock was ticking. 

Tomorrow would be day five that he’d been gone. And he had done nothing about it.

Erwin and Mike had been practically invisible for the last five days. They would show up at Hange’s occasionally to shower and sleep for a few hours. They were always dressed in dark clothes and carrying bags that looked heavy. Maps were spread out on Hange’s kitchen table, and the whole house had turned into central command. 

The two older blondes rocketed around the city like vigilantes, spying on people with scopes, perching on top of buildings, mapping out every possible hiding location: Jean’s house, work, his parents, old partners, train stations, bus stations, airports and anything else that had had a brush with Jean in the past. Hange tirelessly monitored a facial recognition security camera program on her laptop, which looked like a software program out of a science fiction movie.

After the missing person’s report was filed, the police went to perform a search of Jean's home under the request of the esteemed Commander Erwin Smith. They found nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was like no one had lived at Jean's house in months. The house was clean, furniture covered up with plastic, like something out of an old ghost movie. It would have made Eren feel like he was absolutely insane, if Levi hadn't been with him the night he had seen Jean at the house. 

Jean had been working at the Rockaway beach bar, but now he was nowhere. He had fallen off the grid. His coworkers apparently knew nothing, they were out of leads, and Armin was out of time. 

Levi stuck beside Eren, hardly leaving his side, which made Eren feel weak, like he was using Levi as a crutch. While people who barely knew Armin were working around the clock to do everything they could, he was here, his best friend, doing absofuckinglutely nothing.   

This was all his fault. All of it. If he had done something when Armin was feeling sad, he could have prevented this. He was so selfish. He was the worst person in the world. The worst friend, lover, man, human. He would give up everything in the world to have Armin back in his arms. He had promised to never let anyone hurt him. That was his promise. He had let him down. And Armin was somewhere in harm's way because of him. 

He had never deserved Armin. Armin was perfect, beautiful, like a shining, translucent ray of brilliant white light. He was completely the opposite of Jean. Jean was black, and dark, and everything terrible and ugly in the world. All Jean had ever wanted was to put Armin's light out. And now he could. He would. Because of Eren. Eren had let Armin walk out the door straight into Jean’s arms. He was pathetic, worthless. A terrible excuse for a man, he couldn’t protect the one person he cared about the most, the person he’d sworn to protect.  
He was so fucking helpless right now. 

Eren's phone rang. It was Mikasa. She had heard about Armin on the news. He didn’t pick it up. He didn’t want to. He didn’t want to talk to her about this, her of all people.  
Because it was his was all his fault.

He went into the well lighted convenience store and squinted. Everything hurt. The light was too bright, the voices were too loud. He felt hungover. When was the last time he had slept? He probably looked like a homeless person now, with his dirty hair and scraggly, unruly beard. The man at the store pulled out a couple packs of Lucky Strikes when he saw him coming along with a new lighter. He had his order ready, since he was seeing him at least twice a day now. He grabbed the packs of cigarettes and a PowerAde and headed back to his house. He wondered when the last time he had had real food was. Armin would be so mad at the state he was in when he came back. When. If. If he came back. He was ruining his body. His skin, his muscles, he didn’t look like a model now, if he kept this lifestyle up for much longer he wouldn't be able to work as one again. 

He trudged back to his apartment, standing in the same place where he had been standing the last six hours, his balcony, filling up the ashtray with cigarette after cigarette, hating himself for resorting to the vice that Armin hated so much.  He hated everything about himself at that moment. He had done this to Armin. This was all his doing. 

He heard footsteps coming up the steps to his apartment. Heavy, slow, tired steps. They weren't Levi's, who seemed to be the only one taking care of himself. Showering regularly, eating well and sleeping at least enough to not look like death. He seemed to be maintaining enough sanity to keep them all together, at least for now. Eren looked to the side sleepily. It was Erwin. He was dressed in a dark grey military sweater and jeans, and had a large olive color bag slung over his shoulder, like he and Mike had just come back from wherever they had been hunting that night. He looked tired and ragged, and smelled metallic, like tools or guns, not like his usual clean, professional smell of rain. Everyone was running on empty. Even with Levi working on holding them all together, he wondered how long it would take them to fall apart completely. 

Eren squinted at Erwin, then looked away. They hadn’t seen each other much in the last few days. Everyone had just been running around, trying to do something, anything, like grasping at straws. They had no leads, but couldn’t give up. Something had to give. It had to. This was Armin. He couldn’t be gone. It was impossible. Being without Armin would be like trying to live without all the good thing in the world. The flowers, or the birds twittering in the spring. Music, laughter, summer sunlight. It'd be possible, but everything in the world would be grey, ugly and dark. Eren didn't think he could do it. He couldn't. He wouldn't be able to go on without him. 

The brunette stuck a new cigarette in his mouth before looking at the older man. "Where's Mike?" 

"Went back home." Erwin answered simply. 

"And why're you here?" 

"I wanted to check in." His voice was shallow and he looked absolutely ragged. 

Eren sighed. “I’ll never forgive you for what you did to him.” He said quietly, lighting the cigarette in his mouth. It was the first time they had talked one on one, the first time they had spoken since Eren put a fist in his face. Erwin hoped he didn’t take a swing at him now because he was sure he was too tired to block it. His hair was messy and greasy and his blonde stubble covered his face, making him look closer to his age. 

Erwin clenched his jaw. “You’re right to not forgive me. I did terrible things. I’ve never met anyone like Armin before. And I wasn't...I'm not, sure how to do things with him. I fucked up.”

“Yeah.” Eren responded. 

“I really want to be with him, Eren. I just keep messing it up.” Erwin sighed. Eren supposed he had a better explanation than that but at the time was just too tired to give it.

“Yeah, you really do keep fucking him over. Armin’s fragile and beautiful. Like a work of art. And deserves to be treated like one.” Eren said, pulling his cigarette out of his mouth and showcasing a nice French inhale. 

Erwin looked down at the ground clenching his fists. “I know. And I know I hurt him again and again. If he never wants to see me again, I understand. I just need to have him in my arms one more time to know that he’s fine and that everything is going to be alright. He’s the most amazing person I’ve ever met, and I don’t deserve him. He’s so young and full of life and beauty. Even knowing that he’s safe and alive and happy somewhere in the world enough for me. The most important thing to me is finding him and keeping him safe.”

Eren didn’t have the energy to be angry at Erwin. After the sleepless nights he and Mike had spent pouring over maps of the city, sitting perched on rooftops, looking through scopes, and knocking on strangers doors handing out flyers of Armin, there was no way that he could be angry at him. He had watched him spend hours leaning over Hange’s shoulder reading document after document on Jean, looking for any type of clue that would give them a break. The anger he had originally feeling toward Erwin had slowly dissipated. It had been redirected toward himself, Jean, the situation. Life. He wanted to throw up. He hated his helplessness, that he had been the man cause in all this, that he wasn’t able to rescue Armin, barge in and save the day like a superhero. 

Armin was his world. He was the only one that mattered. And he had lost him and didn’t know what to do. Erwin generally looked pretty well put together and kept up, but he looked like shit. He was stroking his wrist, and when Eren looked, he saw that it was Armin’s hair ties that Erwin was gently grasping on to. They were in the same boat. They had both made really shitty decisions, taking for granted the most beautiful and wonderful thing they ever had. They just both needed Armin.

Eren did the only thing that made sense. He ran to Erwin and grabbed him, digging his face in his dusty wool sweater. It smelled like sweat, metal and a soft hint of Erwin’s rainy musk. 

Erwin was surprised by the gesture, but didn’t say anything. He let Eren burrow into his shirt, and he wrapped the brunette tightly in his strong arms. 

Eren's mediterranean eyes closed, and he choked out, “I need Armin.” Tears seeped out of his closed eyes as the beautiful, haggard boy gripped his shirt. 

Erwin dug his face into Eren’s unkempt hair, kneading his almond arms in his own anxious gesture, his breath catching in his throat. 

“We’ll find him, Eren. We have to.”

\--

The door to the apartment opened a few hours later, two pairs of shoes were by the door, one smaller pair of vans, and one monstrous pair of combat boots. Levi walked into the darkened apartment quietly to see Eren asleep on Erwin’s chest on the couch, Armin’s yellow and pink polka dotted comforter pulled up over them as they drank in the scent of Armin’s tangy grapefruit and warmth.  
Levi wondered how long it had been since either of them had slept.

He crept over to the couch slowly, kneeling beside it, and gently pushed Eren’s hair out of his face. The model was nearly unrecognizable, with a scowl on his face even in sleep and a scraggly brown beard growing in, he looked like a caveman.  Erwin didn’t look much better, tired, wrinkled lines around his eyes and a sandy blonde beard of his own. Levi leaned in slowly and captured the pink, partially open lips of his sleeping best friend. It was soft and slow, and Erwin's blue eyes slowly flickered open in surprise, catching Levi’s steely stare. 

“Shh.” Levi whispered, as Eren still slumbered on his chest. Levi continued with the kiss, and Erwin moved one hand up to run through in Levi’s hair raven locks as he moved closer, tipping Erwin’s chin up to get a better angle. Levi’s tongue slowly slid into Erwin’s mouth, showing a sliver of passion Erwin hadn’t experienced before. The kiss was soft, and sweet, and the dim lights made the blonde's heart beat fast. 

Eren made a noise and stirred as he felt Erwin’s breath quicken, and he looked over to see Levi and Erwin right next to him slowly kissing. He watched with dazed wonder, halfway wondering if he was in a dream. 

One of Erwin’s hands gently caressed his tangled chestnut hair, while his other digits ran through Levi's thin black strands. Levi’s eyelashes were resting on his cheeks as his eyes closed gently, slowly giving in as Erwin nibbled on his bottom lip.  
Eren purred. “Hey, I want one.” And Levi and Erwin both looked down at him. He pulled Levi away from Erwin, and caught the small man’s lips on his own, with a fierce, heated kiss, tongues and teeth colliding. It was different than Erwin’s kiss, his was rougher, more needy and urgent. 

He finally pulled away from his small lover, and Erwin looked over at Levi, running his large hand down Levi’s sharply sculpted face. 

“You’ve never done that before.” He said quietly.

Levi leaned up against the couch, one hand running through Erwin’s hair while the other ran down Eren’s neck.

“I don’t want to lose you.” Levi said simply. It was a simple confession, but Erwin knew well enough what it meant.

He had been rocked by Armin’s disappearance as much as them all, and the thought of losing his best friend terrified him, no matter how much he and Erwin's relationship differed from Eren and Armin's, he still wouldn't be able to go on without him, even if they never outright admitted their feelings.

“You won’t.” He replied, "I'm here." One of Erwin's large hands gently stroked Levi's face, the other hand still resting in Eren’s chocolate strands. 

“Where did you go last night, Levi?” Eren asked sleepily from his position resting on Erwin's chest. 

“Back to the bar at Rockaway Beach.”

“What for?”

“I had a feeling about one of the bartenders there. The first girl who told us she didn't remember where Armin was.” Levi said, stretching and pulling up the coffee table behind him to sit on.

“Did you get anything out of her?” Erwin’s voice rumbled underneath Eren.

Levi held up a small glass vile in his hand. “Yes. Yes I did.”

Eren scrambled up, jabbing his elbow into Erwin's stomach accidently as he snatched it from Levi. "What is it?" 

"Hange is running diagnostics. We'll know more in a couple hours." 

Erwin sat up, holding Eren in his lap as he looked a the small vile, rubbing his gut where he got stabbed with Eren's bony elbow. He turned to Levi with a soft smile, pulling him into a kiss. "You did well." 

Eren nuzzled his lips into the ravenette's neck while Erwin continued to kiss him, Eren nibbling and kissing along his throat. Levi keened at the attention from the two men. 

"Good job, Levi." Eren echoed. 

Levi pushed them both away after a bit of the kissing. "Okay, okay. Stop it. Now, both of you go take showers. You smell like a chimney," He said pointing at Eren, "And you smell like an armory." He said jabbing his finger in Erwin's arm. "When you're done we'll go see Hange." 

The two bearded men wandered off to take showers in the small apartment while Levi looked at the small vile, wondering what had been inside. "Hold on, Armin." He whispered. "We're coming for you." 

\--

Armin closed his eyes, and opened them and Jean was gone, and he was alone. He was tired, and shaky, and so cold. He felt feverish. He leaned over the side of the bed to vomit, but only managed to throw up a long stream of stringy white liquid. He wondered when the last time was that he had eaten anything. 

He blinked slowly again, and Jean was on top of him, his hands tied roughly to the bed,  Jean pressing his legs up to his shoulders as he spilled his cum inside of him. 

He blinked again and Jean was gone. 

What day was it? 

How long had he been here? 

He was losing time. Was he constantly on the drug, and he couldn’t remember?

Jean was with him again. He had just asked him a question, and he was supposed to answer. What was the question again? A slap was delivered to his face for not answering, and suddenly his head was plunged underwater.

He was in a bathtub, the water around him was pink with blood. When did he start bleeding?

Jean was giving him something else to drink from a vile. 

And he was sleeping again.


	14. Karma, Candles, and Unexpected Heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two days! Don't know how that happened, haha.  
> The last chapter was tough. Jean's the worst. I promise, though, good stuff does happen in this story!

Armin heard a voice. Then two voices. Familiar. And Beautiful. Eren first, then Erwin.  
“Min!”  
“Armin!”

He tried to yell back but couldn’t, then he suddenly realized that he was standing outside his body. Grey mist swirled around his feet, and he didn’t hurt anymore, he wasn’t cut up. His body was perfect, and muscled, and back to the way it was before he was with Jean. He didn’t seemed to be dressed in anything, but he wasn’t naked, his body was just glowing white. He gulped. No. Oh, shit.

He was in the same black tiled room he had been in before, and could see his body on the bed.  Erwin and Eren were there too, standing in the doorway. They saw him on the bed, the other him, and completely ran through his body to the him that was covered in blood and laying naked on the mattress. The white sheets were stained and his body was torn up, Jean’s name carved into his chest, the letters infected and swelling. 

Eren grabbed his body and shook it, but it was white and cold, his head lolled back with no signs of life. Erwin fell to his knees beside the bed and covered his mouth with the back of his hand while Eren let out a primal sound similar to a war cry. He tangled his hands in Armin’s short blond hair that was crusted with blood and whispered “Come back, Min, come back. I can’t live without you.” 

Armin advanced toward the pair reaching out his clean, soft hand, to put it on Erwin’s shoulder, but it went completely through the large man’s body. He realized at that time his hand was a bit transparent. Was he a ghost? He was there, but unseen, and unheard. Was this it? Was he gone? Was this what it was like, to die?

Armin bolted upright. He was on the black tile floor, and very much alive. Pain shot through his body, he felt it in every cell in his being, and for some reason he was thankful for it. Jean was in the room, going through one of the chests of drawers. When he saw Armin sit up he turned around. 

“Well, you sure look chipper today. Your whore ass has been sleeping forever.” 

Armin was a little glad to see him. HIM of all people. He would rather be in a room with him at this very moment then be dead. Alive meant he still had time. Time to escape. To get back to where he belonged.  

No one was coming for him, because presumably, no one knew where he was. Even he didn’t know where he was. He had to do something, he needed to take action, or he would die. For the first time in awhile, his mind was perfectly clear. And while it was, even if he could barely move his body, this was his time to act. 

Jean pulled him up by the hair and bent him over the nearby cabinet. He didn’t fight back.  
“Finger yourself for me, bitch.”

Armin didn’t resist, but licked his fingers reached back to work himself open, loosening his hole up for Jean.

Jean watched him, enjoying the view as he held Armin against the cabinets by the hair. He hummed after awhile, watching Armin slowly move three fingers in and out of himself without complaint.

“You’re being such a good little cumslut for me today. Maybe you’ve learned how to be obedient, finally? Hmm? I’ll give you a reward. I’ll let you tell me where you want my cum today.”

Armin was pretty sure “Go fuck yourself” wasn’t a legitimate answer, so he decided that his chest would probably be the least messy. He relayed the thought to Jean.  


Jean bent him over the dresser and shoved into him. His hole was swollen and probably torn, there was absolutely no pleasure in this for him at all. He wondered how many parts of his body were infected, he was warm, his body was feverish and Jean wasn’t taking care of any of his wounds.

“Ah, you’re so hot inside I can barely push into you.” Jean commented, while he used his body.

“Please, God.” Armin prayed. “Give me a way out of here. I promise I’ll be a better person. I’ll forgive everyone, and not hold grudges, and be stronger, and better, and be the kind of man my father would have wanted me to be. I’ll still be gay, so I’m not getting over that one. But please. Don’t let it be like the dream. I’m not ready to die. I’ll do whatever it takes. Just give me one more chance.”

\--

Hange held up the small vile that Levi had brought to her a few hours before to run tests on. 

“The drug previously in here is called GHB, or the street name is Liquid Ecstasy. It’s basically a party drug, and has similar effects to Ecstasy, but if overused, it can have an effect similar to roofies.”

Erwin furrowed his brow. “I don’t know what that means. I never took any party drugs.”

Levi sighed. “You’re showing your age again, Erwin.”

Hange scratched under her ponytail. “Basically it gives a person heightened senses, euphoria, enhanced sexual desire, but overused it can make a person unconscious.”

“So he had the bartender use it at the bar to knock Armin out.”

Levi nodded.

“How did you get her to fess up to that? Does she know that she may be an accomplice to murder?” Mike asked, rubbing the side of his neck. They were all in Hange’s kitchen and it was early morning. Mike had just a towel wrapped around his waist, and Erwin and Eren looked a little better with the bit of sleep they had gotten, but still had their scraggly stubble growing, however Erwin’s looked much better on him then Eren’s did.

“According to her, Sheyla was lead to believe that Armin was Jean’s boyfriend. Jean had asked her to slip something in his drink to put him to sleep in order to have him take him away on a surprise trip for his birthday.”

“I’m not sure exactly if I buy the story, due to the fact that there was obviously a fight that ensued, and blood and glass everywhere.” Eren said.

“She said that she wasn’t there for the fight. That all happened when she was away on break and she came back to the mess. She didn’t tell us about it when we came looking for Armin because she was genuinely worried something may have happened to him but didn’t want to be indicted.”

“But she told you about it five days later because…”

“Because Jean never came back to work and Armin never came back for his bike, and the thought was eating away at her. She decided she may gotten played and unintentionally been involved in something.”

Erwin sighed. “Jean is a very charismatic person. I have no doubt he could easily convince someone of something like that.”

“Well now we know that Armin was alive at least when Jean took him, and if he moved from the house to a secondary location that Armin was alive then, or else he would have had no reason to move in the first place, he could have just hid his body.”

Eren growled, picking up the vile and squeezing it in his hand. “So basically we don’t know anything more than what we knew yesterday. Armin is gone, and Jean is off the map. Jean has nearly unlimited resources. He’s smart. Charismatic. He could convince an eskimo to buy ice from him, for fucks sake.” Tears started to seep out of his eyes. We’re never going to find him.”  
He reached across the table and pushed all the maps onto the ground in a fit of rage, making everyone’s eyes widen in shock.

Mike soundlessly walked behind Eren, grabbed him by the far shoulder and swivelled him toward him. With one motion, he drug him forward by the collar and headbutted him hard, their foreheads connecting and Eren dropped to the ground unconscious.

“Mike, what the fuck!” Levi exclaimed.

“Sorry.” He said, obviously not sorry. "We knew he was going to get this way. He’s falling apart. Just like how you were when we lost Farlan. We need to think of a solution, or we need to rethink our plan.”

Mike picked a map up off the floor. Most of the blocks in the city had been crossed off. “We’ve looked most places. There are so many nooks and crannies of this city to look in, Levi, we can’t search every place. We can only search where people are coming and going from, and if he’s keeping Armin contained, like in a private residence, which is what I’m assuming, I’m sorry then. We can’t barge into every place until we find him. There’s no way.”

Levi clenched his fists. “Then what are we supposed to do?” 

Mike sighed. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Levi. Erwin and I have been doing stuff every night. Searching, knocking on doors, This city is enormous, and there are outlying areas as well. Its like Eren said. Jean is wealthy, and has connections, not to mention he’s very outgoing. He could be somewhere completely different now, and we could have missed him altogether. I’m just being honest here, we have no idea. No leads. The only lead we had was the girl at the bar, and even she didn’t know what was going on. She was hardly an accomplice, she was as mislead as us.”

Erwin’s cell phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket, looking at the unfamiliar number. He decided against answering it, and put it back in his pocket. Moments later, the generic ringtone went off again, and he sighed, pulled it out of the pocket of his jeans and answered it.

“Erwin Smith.”

The voice was small, scratchy and barely audible. “Er-win?”

Erwin was completely silent, his jaw dropping, as he grasped the phone tightly. “Armin?”

Eveyone around the table was silent in disbelief. 

Eren stirred on the ground, ready to yell at Mike for the headbutt, until he heard Armin’s name.

“Armin, angel, I need you to tell me where you are right now.”

\--

Armin had awoken again, and Jean was gone. Pain rocketed through his entire body, from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes. He couldn’t think of a part on his body that didn’t hurt, but once again, it showed that he was alive, and for that he couldn’t be more thankful. He looked over, and the door to his room was open, like Jean had left in a hurry. He couldn’t believe it. 

He slowly crawled to the door peeking out into the larger room. It appeared to be an apartment, an expensive one, with the black tile stretching across the floor in the main room as well. The floor plan was almost completely open, with a kitchen with a long countertop, and a half-wall between the kitchen and the bedroom. On the side of the half wall with the bedroom was a large, unmade bed, and an two wide open doors which showed entrance to a walk in closet. There was no other furniture or accessories in the apartment, like Jean only used the place to play with him and sleep. The walls were covered in black tile as well, except for the wall across from the kitchen, which was floor to ceiling glass windows looking out on the city. 

He saw something laying on the floor near the bedroom wall. It was impossible, he was dreaming. It was Jean’s phone, thrown against the black tile and left there. It seemed like Jean had been in with Armin, and gotten a call and left to take it. The call had made him angry, so he had thrown his phone against the wall and left. That would explain the open door and the phone in the apartment. He’d seen it happen before, in which case, Armin didn’t have long before Jean was back for his phone. He didn’t know how long he had been gone, he could be back in a matter of seconds for all he knew. 

He picked up the phone from the ground. It was still in working order, and Jean's password was always the same, 1111. Armin put in the password and the phone unlocked. The background was an old picture of himself and Jean at an amusement park from about five years ago, he was riding Jean piggyback and they were wearing matching shirts and giving peace signs to the camera.

He looked at the date on the main screen. It was October 10th, and 8:07 in the morning.  He had been with Jean for a week. It was daytime, but felt like night. It always felt like night here. Who should he call? The police in this town were shit. He knew Eren’s number, but he didn't want to put Eren in harm's way. He was sure Eren would come running in here with his fists out and Jean would tear him apart. Armin’s chin trembled. He had access to anyone in the world, but couldn’t think of anything helpful. 

The he looked at his wrist and remembered. It was still there, even after a week. It was like Erwin’s number had faded into his pores, kind of the way his scent and his memory had become parts of him. He didn’t know if Erwin would come for him, if he would even pick up the phone. But he decided to try. He opened the phone application and dialed the number on his wrist.

The first call went to voicemail, and Armin’s heart dropped into his stomach. He would try one more time. 

This time it rang once, and someone picked up. 

“Erwin’s Smith.”

A flood of relief flowed through Armin, and tears sprang into his eyes unwillingly as he heard the man’s deep, comforting voice. 

“Er-win?” He squeaked out. Oh. He hadn’t talked in awhile. Or eaten. Or drank. Or breathed, basically. Could words even come out of his mouth?

He heard multiple gasps and rustling. Was he with people? Was he interrupting something? 

What if he was with someone, like on a date? What if he had left? Were they on the Trost at sea again?

“Armin?”

He nodded, like Erwin would be able to see him, tears running down his cheeks. He never thought he would be able to forgive the handsome blue eyed man for hurting him twice. But right now none of it mattered. All that mattered was that he had picked up the phone and he could hear him. It was like someone was with him in this terrifying situation, even if they were truly far away. 

“Armin, angel, I need you to tell me where you are right now.” 

“I don’t know.” He said quietly, then he cleared his throat, wiping the tears off his cheeks. 

“Can you see out a window? Can you tell us what’s around you?” He asked. 

Armin slowly crawled to the window. He couldn’t walk, he could barely move, but this was the time that it mattered. He needed to move, and he needed to think and do it fast.

“We’re all here, angel, we’re going to find you, okay? We just need to know where you are.” The blonde said comfortingly.

He heard Erwin put the phone on speaker.

“Armin, can you see any buildings or lights?” Mike asked. 

“There’s a tower, it has two points on top.” He said scratchily. "And a brick building, but the brick is green and has a Pepsi sign on it. And right across from me there’s a tall apartment building.”

“Armin, how far away are you from these things? The Pepsi building and the tower with two points.” Hange asked, and Armin heard a map rustling.

“The Pepsi building is across the street, a block down on the right, and the tower with two points is to my left, it’s pretty far in the distance.” He hated himself, he was doing a shitty job at explaining. “I can also see half a sign, on the building right next to the left of me, like beside me. Its neon and green and says on two lines ...teen dles. That's all I can see.”

“I know where that is I know where that is I know where that is!” Eren said over and over. “That’s Seventeen Candles, its over on Spruce street. Armin, are you in an apartment building?”

“Yes, it’s expensive looking.” Armin squeaked, growing more excited, more tears streaming down his face as he heard Eren's voice.

“Armin.” Erwin asked, “Can you tell me how far up you are in the building? What do you see directly across from you?”

“Right across from me there’s a small apartment balcony with a two brown chairs and a pair of jeans hanging out on the railing. I’m,” He counted the windows on the other side. “21 stories up. The outside of the apartment building is glass and black I think, and the other building next to me on the other side of Seventeen Candles is some sort of restaurant with a hood over it, and there’s a valet outside.”

Suddenly Armin heard walking in the hallway. “I have to go. I have to go.” the line went dead.

\--

The five in the room stared at each other, stunned, then all moved at once. 

“Hange, Levi and I will go in first, you and Mike can back us up.” Erwin said, and Hange nodded as she prepared her pistol and knives, handing Mike his gun.

“What about me? When should I go in.” Eren asked. 

“Never. You stay in the car.” 

“Fuck you! There’s no way that I’m not going in there with you guys to help get Armin.”

Erwin sighed, then threw Eren his bulletproof vest. “Then wear this, and stay beside Levi.” 

Erwin sighed again as he strapped on his holster.

“We have no idea what to expect, all we know is that Jean is dangerous. I think that Armin’s life is the one that we have to worry about here most of all.” Levi said.

The four soldiers all armed themselves, Hange tucking medical supplies into her belt next to her knives just in case.

They jumped in Eren’s forerunner and headed to the place exactly where Armin had described it. It was a tall black and glass apartment building on Spruce Street, between the clothing store Seventeen Candles and a small Italian restaurant called Pierre's. 

Mike and Erwin had walked past the apartment building 100 times during their nightly surveying of the city, never imagining that Armin could be inside it the whole time. 

They took the elevator up to floor 21, and looking through the glass paneling, they followed the hallway until they found the room adjacent to the brown chairs and jeans hanging on the balcony as Armin had described to them. The room was 1438. 

“God, please be the right one.” Erwin whispered, as he saw the doorway. 

As soon as they had determined it may be the right apartment, Eren charged down the hallway, smashing the black door open with his shoulder.

There was a gunshot as soon as the door opened.

Levi and Erwin entered quickly, guns drawn, to see Jean with a smoking gun pointed at Eren, who had been shot in the vest, the impact of the bullet knocking him to his knees.

“Jackass.” Jean said with a laugh.

He was standing behind the kitchen counter, holding Armin by the hair in front of him so they were unable to get a good shot at him. Erwin grimaced when he saw the smaller blonde. He looked completely different, skinnier, his hair shorter and caked with blood. His body was covered in cuts and bruises, and his eyes were clouded over. 

“Did you come for this?” He asked, tossing Armin on the floor,“That’s too bad. He’s mine. He always has been. He’ll be mine until he dies.” He said, pointing the gun at Armin. 

“Levi!” Erwin yelled, and Levi pointed the gun at Jean, getting one shot off that penetrated Jean’s shoulder, embedding in the refrigerator behind him with a bloody spatter and loud bang, the same time as Jean pulled the trigger, his gun aimed at Armin. The shot to Jean's shoulder threw him off, Jean's bullet imbedding in the floor next to Armin’s head. 

In a second, Erwin was across the room, scooping up Armin and hiding behind the half wall between the kitchen and the bedroom. There wasn’t much to hide behind in the apartment, but Erwin hoped that Levi could take care of the man while he kept Armin protected.

Armin weakly put his arms around Erwin’s neck.

“You came for me.”

“Of course I did.” Erwin said, pressing his forehead against Armin’s as he turned his back toward the action, pushing them farther back into a corner. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get out on my own.” Armin whispered. His forehead was slippery and burning up against Erwin’s; Erwin wondered how high the blonde's fever was. 

There were more gunshots in the kitchen, and sounds of feet shuffling. Eren must be up on his feet again, because there was the sound of a war cry and a hulk smash, and then Jean laughing. God, he wished Eren hadn't have come. He was an amazing man, but his anger was going to get them all killed. 

“You were so good, angel. So, so brave.” Tears were running down Armin’s cheeks as Erwin held him. “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

“It seems like we say sorry to each other a lot.” Armin whispered. In the background, there was another gunshot, and Levi yelled Eren’s name in a snappy, annoyed fashion. He wondered what was going on. God Levi, lets wrap this up, please.

“After this we’ll do better.” Erwin whispered, trying to block out the noise and focus on Armin.

“We can start over.” 

“Really?” Erwin asked.

“Really. I mean it.”

Then there was a gunshot. Closer this time, much closer. 

“God, this conversation is boring as fuck.” Jean said lazily, the smoking gun pointed at Erwin.

The first gunshot was followed by a second, third and fourth.

Erwin squeezed Armin tightly to his chest as he felt the impact of bullets in his back, and he coughed blood up on Armin’s shoulder.

“Jesus, you’re just like a wall of muscle.” Jean said, shaking his head.

Erwin fell forward, still shielding Armin with his body, as one more bullet flew into his hip.

“No..no no no no no.” Armin yelled as loud as he could, and it basically was more of a whisper. Erwin’s breathing got shallow as he put his hand on Armin’s chin, like he was going to say something, then his hand slipped away as he lost consciousness.

Jean had two bullets in his chest and one in his shoulder, but still advanced towards Armin.

“I saved one bullet for you, bitch. I told Eren I’d end you if he came, didn’t I? No one touches things that belong to me, except me.” He levelled the gun at Armin’s head.

There was a gunshot, and blood spattered all over Armin’s face. 

It was Levi who had pulled the trigger, firing a bullet point blank at the back of Jean's head. The spinal cord was immediately severed, killing him instantly and spattering blood on Armin and Erwin. He was gone. His blood pooled around Levi’s feet as his body collapsed to the floor.

Armin’s body was still covered by Erwin’s huge mass, blood pouring over both of them. Eren rounded the corner, and saw the blood pooling around Erwin and gasped while Levi put the phone to his ear, dialing 911.

Hange and Mike entered the room seconds after, pistols drawn. Hange hurried to help Erwin, pulling him off of Armin. It was then that Eren noticed Armin coughing up blood, and that two of the bullets that had hit Erwin had travelled through him and were embedded in Armin’s chest and stomach.

“No, Armin!” Eren yelled.

He collapsed on the floor, trying to cover the wounds with his hands.

“You’d better pull through, you stubborn bastard." Levi whispered to Erwin through clenched teeth as Hange worked on stopping the bleeding, while the ambulance hurried on its way. 

“Armin, Armin. Don’t die. We found you, don’t die.” Eren said, holding his hand over the small man's wounds that were quickly pumping blood out onto the floor.

Mike had seen the same exact thing before, Levi trying to stop Farlan from dying so many years ago. He crouched beside Eren and gently pushed him out of the way. "I need you to move now, Eren. I need to stop the bleeding." He wouldn't let it happen again. 

\--

Hange was in operating room, her face covered with a mask and hat, operating tools in her hand as she looked over her lifelong friend riddled with bullet holes. Her world spinning. This had all happened so fast. She knew as soon as she walked out of the operating room, she was going to be bombarded with questions. She didn’t want to see anyone. She didn’t want to face Levi, or Eren, the only person she wanted to see was Mike.

She sent a quick text message, and a few moments later, Mike entered the staff only wing, dressed in a not very convincing doctors getup consisting of a white lab coat and mask, and a visitors tag with an “X” over visitor, and “doctor” had been scrawled in place of it in permanent marker.

“Ah, Dr. Zacharias.” She greeted him.

He wrapped his arms around her in a comforting gesture, holding her to his chest. They rarely exchanged any type of physical contact that wasn’t some form of fighting, but in this case, she needed it.

“How are things looking?” Mike asked, smelling her ponytail, which smelled like a mix of sterile hospital chemicals and shampoo.

“Erwin’ll pull through, luckily. One of his important arteries were severed, a bullet punctured his right lung. Since we were able to slow the bleeding on site, we were able to stabilize him. We just finished up his operation, but the wounds are already showing signs of slowly mending, and strangely, it looks like his lung will rebuild itself.” 

Mike looked down. “Because of the serum. It’s still in his system after all these years.” 

Hange nodded. “Yes, I think so.”

“What about the kid?” 

She sighed. “He’s malnourished, dehydrated, and having withdrawals from the GHB. The bullet wounds he’ll survive from. They were pretty shallow, considering they had previously passed through 260 pounds of solid muscle. We have another problem though.”

“Which is?”

“Septic Shock.”

Mike looked at her with confusion. "I don't know what that is."

“Blood poisoning.” Many of the wounds on his body were caused by some sort of sharp, unsterile object. There’s a massive infection in his bloodstream. He won’t make it, Mike. He’s body’s not strong enough to fight it off. We have him in a medically induced coma for now.”

Mike turned away from her. “What are you going to tell Eren?”

“I don’t know.” 

"He's going to ask you as soon as he sees you, you know that right? He believes you hung the moon. That you can do anything." 

Hange nodded. "I know, Mike."

“Is there any way to stop it?”

“Yes. One.” She said, picking at her hangnail and looking down. He immediately knew what she meant.

Mike sighed. “The serum's gone, Hange.”

“We all know that’s not true.”

He turned back towards her, reaching out and taking her hand in his own. “You’re the doctor, Hange. You can save him. I know you can."

\--

Eren stood, wide mouthed, while Hange told him the news. He didn’t speak, but tears started falling silently from each of his eyes.

“What? No, that’s not possible. We saved him, though, we saved him. That's not fair. We found him. We saved him, so he's okay now. Tell me he's going to be okay.” His voice cracked.

Hange clasped her hands in front of herself. "I'm very sorry, Eren. But there's nothing we can do right now. He has a very, very bad infection, and his body doesn't have the capacity to fight it off. Right now he's still with us but it won't be long until the infection takes him."

"Then take all the blood out of his body and give him new blood." Eren's voice cracked. "They have that, right?"

Hange shook her head bitterly. "I'm sorry sweety, it doesn't work that way. I'm so, so, sorry."

He went into the room where Armin was in his bed, a large tube stuck down his throat and his body carved up like a lab experiment. “No, Armin, we saved you. We saved you. Don't do this.” Tears cascaded down his cheeks.  
Hange was the only one in there with him. Mike had disappeared, Levi was with Erwin, who had nearly given his life to save Armin’s, not knowing that the bullets weren’t even what was killing him. It was the tiny little invisible beings in his blood.  
He crawled up on the bed beside his friend and curled up in a ball, tears seeping into the sheets as he cried. He felt like it should make him feel better, having Armin’s warm body next to him, but in a way it made him feel worse, like he was so close to having him back, but so, so far away. He fell asleep, curled up in a ball next to him, holding Armin’s limp hand and listening to the beep of the hospital machine.

\--

Levi was laying with his head down on Erwin’s hospital bed, his small hand in Erwin's large palm. He was torn between staying with Erwin, and going to Eren, who he knew also needed to be comforted by him. He was torn between the two men that held his heart, and didn't know what to do. They were both in such helpless situations. Hange had told him that Erwin was going to pull through, but seeing the strong, unbeatable man laying lifeless in a hospital bed with a tube helping him breathe, it didn’t seem that way. Please pull through for me, Erwin. I need you. 

I need Armin.

I need all of us. 

\--

Mike got out of the small jet airplane, stretching. The 16 hour flight was still just as unpleasant as he remembered it, but at least he didn’t have to parachute out into frigid iced-over ocean this time. He hadn’t been to the North since, well, the Northern Conflict. He had never thought he would ever have to come back here, but here he was. There were too many unpleasant memories tied to events of his past here, even though the North was so different now. It had turned from a wild, terrorist-infested country, to a thriving union with commerce, trade, religion and structure. Still, it would always be hell for him.

He hadn't told anyone he was leaving, or where he was going, but it was a location that would always have a sacred place in all of their hearts. Bear Lake. He traversed the large trails to the canyon, and then climbed the winding paths to the old cave where so long ago they had made the serum. Many of the landmarks had changed, the area had become more domesticated, with gift shops and placards listing different facts about the area, some about the Northern Conflict, others about the animals common to that region. One thing that hadn’t changed about the North, it was still so cold. He was glad that he had worn all his winter gear.

He made it to the cave at last. The cave looked exactly the same, with a small opening for the mouth, getting wider to the back. It was filled with trash, soda cans and firepits left behind by campers, and a small tent was set up in the back like a vagabond lived there from time to time. 

He traveled in, looking for a certain spot. The whole cavern was pitch dark, but he remembered exactly where the marker was from feel. He found the spot he was looking for on the wall, and then dug directly underneath it, pawing at the earth with his large hands, until his fingers hit something metallic. A shiver ran through his spine. He pulled out a small metal case with his initials on it, MJZ, the case that Levi had given him for Christmas one year to hold his shaving supplies. It was exactly where he had buried it all those years ago. 

He opened up the squeaky, dirty metal lid. Inside was a single sock, and he smirked at the sight of it. It was one of Erwin’s that Mike had stolen, and Erwin had searched for the match for the missing sock for literally years. He wondered if he was still looking. He unwrapped the grey sock slowly, then reached down inside. Inside, tucked away just as he had left it, was a small vile of light blue liquid. It was exactly what he was looking for. 

The serum.

He tucked the item back inside the metal box gently, and put the box inside his backpack and headed back down the mountain. 

He wasn’t quite sure why he had lied to Hange about having it. Maybe because he was unsure if it was still there, anything could have happened to it over the last 20 years. It could have gotten stolen, broken, the cave could have collapsed, he also could have misremembered where he buried it.

Or perhaps he’d lied because she was a doctor, and he didn’t want her to have any responsibility in what happened to Armin after he received the serum. She’d have no knowledge of the serum being used if she was ever questioned about it. 

Or maybe he just didn’t want to have to fess up about keeping the secret hidden away in the mountains for so many years after they had all promised to destroy it. However, there was no guarantee that they all didn’t have some hidden stash with the same "just in case" thought in mind, especially after the way Hange had acted like she knew about it. Or had she just known about it all along? She did have a way of knowing things. 

But it didn’t matter. 

As Mike stood over Armin’s bed the two nights later, dressed in his phony doctors outfit and holding a loaded syringe, he didn’t care. Eren was still curled up on the bed next to the blonde. A woman Mike didn’t recognize, with black hair who looked similar to Eren, sat in a seat next to the bed holding Eren’s hand, snoring quietly. Eren had a long scraggly beard, and looked like he hadn’t showered in quite a few days. A change of clothes had been laid out for him, presumably brought by the woman, but he hadn’t used them. It didn’t look like he had moved at all since Mike had seen him four days prior. 

Mike was completely silent, knowing it wouldn’t be good if he woke someone up doing this. 

This never happened, after all. 

The serum never existed. 

He plunged the needle into Armin’s neck, inserting the entire syringe of light blue liquid into him. As soon as he finished, he quickly pocketed the empty vile and used syringe, and walked out of the hospital into the night, shedding his doctors coat and mask and throwing them into a dumpster. He crushed the syringe and vile in his hand, dropping them onto the ground and scooting them with his foot into the storm drain. 

He was never there.

This never happened. 

He sighed as he shoved his hands in his pocket, walking through the city toward their apartment.

Please work. Please wake up, Armin. 

For all of us.


	15. Made Of Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 15! Horray!  
> I've been asked a few times what my updating schedule is. I try for twice a week, Wednesdays, and generally the other day will be a weekend. 
> 
> Thank you again for your kudos and comments, I really enjoy reading them and knowing you are enjoying the story!
> 
> My spell check wasn't working for whatever reason on this chapter, so sorry if you find a few errors. I did my best to catch them, but there are always a few words I misspell without fail.

“How are you feeling today?” Hange asked, peeking over her hospital-issued ipad to look at Erwin. He was sitting up in bed, a folded-over newspaper in his hand, and for all intents and purposes, looking quite healthy.

“Better.” 

There wasn’t much that could be looked into regarding Erwin’s recovery. The serum they had discovered so many years ago hadn’t really been tested, except by the five of them at the time dismembering each other. There was no way to determine how it really worked when it came to repairing internal organs, and how long the recovery process may take for Erwin, considering the drug had been in his system 20 years. Had the drug lost its potency or some of its abilities over time? It didn’t seem that way, but only time would tell.

“Good.” Hange replied, glancing at Levi, who sat in a chair beside the bed. “Are you feeling any pain, Erwin?”

Erwin looked thoughtful. "Just a little. It's inside, kind of like nerve pain. But other than that no, and the visible bullet holes disappeared a few hours ago.”

“Well, don’t go around telling people that, Erwin. Stay in bed like a good patient and act normal, or before you can say 'I was healed by a miracle serum' you'll be in pieces under a microscope.”

“I know Hange, I know." Erwin sighed. "How's Armin’s recovery? I’m sure those bullet wounds couldn’t have been that deep, after going through my whole body. The gun wasn’t that big of a caliber either, maybe a .380? Bigger than a .22, for sure, but...either way, we were lucky.” He mumbled, mostly to himself. 

Hange had never gotten around to telling Erwin about Armin’s blood poisioning. Partially because he had been in surgery immediately after the accident, and afterward had been asleep, which Hange had convinced him would hasten the healing process. The main reason she hadn't told him though, was that she just couldn't find the words. She wasn’t ready to see another reaction like Eren’s. Eren had already shattered her heart, watching him fall apart at the news. She knew Erwin was older and his reaction would be more contained, but she still wasn't ready. She knew she needed to tell him the truth, however, before it was too late.

“Erwin, I need to tell you..." Hange stalled. "Erwin, listen. About Armin. He's not going to make it.” 

Erwin’s jaw dropped, and he was speechless. A small sound that was something like a squeak issued from the back of his throat, in the form of the word "No", and that was all. He was frozen, a look in his eyes that was more like fear then sadness. No. I just found you. I won't let you go again. I can't. Don't leave.

Levi sat in his chair, stunned, looking at Hange like she was speaking a different language for a few seconds, the weight of the words sinking in. Then he exploded. “What?” He stood from his seat beside the bed. ”Why have you been keeping this from us? We’ve been in here this whole time, doing fucking Sudoku and talking about the weather, when we should have been in there with him, and with Eren? What the fuck!” His jaw clenched and his eyes closed, head shaking as if still trying to process Hange's words. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes, nostrils flaring in anger. He strode toward the door. “I’m going to them.”

“I didn’t know how to tell you both. Erwin, you took five bullets for him, and it wasn’t even the gunshot wounds that are killing him. He has Sepsis. I don’t know how long he’s got. He’s in a medically induced coma. He won’t come out of it. And…”

A small alarm went off on Hange's ipad, interrupting her, and a red banner opened across the of the screen, showing an emergency alert.

“What is that?” Levi asked, turning around at the irksome sound. 

“Oh my god, it's Armin.” 

“What, what is it?” Erwin asked concernedly. 

Armin’s heartbeat. It's gone. The monitor's not reading it anymore. It’s just gone. We're losing him.” Hange burst out the door past Levi, running toward Armin.

\--

Armin’s eyes flew open, and he immediatly realized he was choking. There was something down his throat. His hand flew to it, grasping the long, blue tube that was inserted all the way down his windpipe into his stomach, blocking his airway.

“You shouldn’t pull on this Armin. You’re not a doctor,” His sensible side said to him, but he grabbed the tube anyway, the primal need to free his body from the foreign object residing inside him momentarily overriding common sense. 

He slowly pulled the tube up and out of his body, gagging as two feet of plastic hose came up out of his throat, disgusted at how far it had been down inside of him.

He gasped for air as the tube came free, nearly wretching at the sensation. He tore the oxygen line out of his nose next and the IV out of his arm. There were so many devices attached to him, he suddenly felt restrained by everything touching him. He was fine. He didn’t need any help breathing or being alive. That's when he realized it. He was alive.  
He didn’t hurt. He felt real, and whole, and healthy, which was impossible.

He felt something cold rolling around on his stomach, and he reached under his hospital gown, feeling for the mystery items. His hand rested on them, and he slowly pulled the two objects out from under his patterned generic hospital dress. There were two cylendrical copper-colored bullets in his hand, they had been simply resting on his stomach near where he remembered the projectiles penetrating his skin, like they had worked their own way out of his body like splinters. He stared at them in his hand.

What the actual fuck.

But it wasn’t only that. All the wounds on his body were healed as well. The cuts were gone. Jean’s name that had been so crudely carved into his skin had disappeared. The bruises, welts, bites, and pain that had radiated all throughout his body, it was all gone. His body, it had somehow healed.  


His skin was soft and smooth, but covered in blood and an undescernable, putrid-smelling yellow grime of sorts, like his body had ejected an illness out his body via his pores, expelling the infected puss and blood cells out of his skin. 

"I have to be dead. This isn’t real. Things like this don’t happen." Armin processed the recent events in his head. "I remember...Jean. And terrible, terrible things. I had a fever. It was Sepsis, or Gangrene, maybe. This is a fever dream or something. It's too good to be true."

That's when he noticed for the first time that there was a homeless man laying next to him on the bed. He smelled like smoke, Doritos, and garbage. 

"Well, that would not be in my dream, that’s for sure. Why is there a homeless man in my hospital bed?"

The young, unkempt man stirred, rolling over and looking at Armin. Armin looked back at him, shielding himself with the blankets, not sure what to say or do. After a few seconds of the two staring at each other, unspeaking, Armin realized he was looking at his best friend. It was indeed Eren, with messy, disheveled hair and a big scraggly beard. He looked terrible and tired, like he hadn't showered in a matter of days and hadn't eaten anything other than vending machine Ramen and Doritos.

“Armin?” The familiar voice asked sleepily. It was cracked and a little huskier than usual, Armin could tell Eren had been smoking again.

“Eren?” Armin replied, just as suprised, reaching his small hand up to his friend’s tired face, touching his bushy, unfamiliar facial hair. 

“Armin?” The brunette repeated, sitting up, tears forming in his tired eyes, “Is this...are you real?”

“I don't know Eren. I don't know what's going on. I feel real, but I don't know how I'm alive. Are you real?” Armin put his other hand on the opposite side of Eren's face, touching it gently. Eren’s chin trembled as he nodded. 

"Are you a dream?" 

"I hope not. All I've thought and dreamed and wished for is how I wanted to be back here with you. Maybe my wish just came true." 

The bearded man leaned forward on the bed and grasped the blonde in an enormous hug. “I missed you so much, Armin. I thought you were going to die.”

“I thought I was going to die too. I even had a dream I did. I saw you and Erwin with my corpse, and it was so scary. I knew I couldn't die, I wasn't ready." 

Eren shivered, obviously shook by the notion, so Armin gave a soft smile and decided to change the subject. "Even though bad things happened to me, I think you look worse than I do. You smell like garbage and smoke.”

“I’m sorry. I haven’t been doing much except smoking. I was so worried about you. I know you hate it when I smoke. After all that, I've probably given myself stage 4 lung cancer.” 

Armin shook his head. "Eren, if something happened to you...I don't know how I'd handle it. I can't penalize you for stress. At least you have your one way of dealing with things. Just don't do it too often. Your body and teeth are beautiful." He ran his hand over Eren's face again. 

Eren smiled, murmuring the blonde's name as if it were something precious. "Mikasa was here for a few days but just left, I guess.” Eren said after awhile, holding up a note that said “I’ll call you later, love you both” Signed with a cursive M.

“That was so kind of her to come all this way. I’m sad I missed her." Armin paused, "But God, Eren, I missed you.”

Eren grabbed onto Armin and gripped his body tightly. “You smell terrible. Like an open wound.” He said, running his finger over the gelatin-like film over the outside of Armin’s skin then sniffing it and gagging. “Ah, nasty, that's disgusting, Min.” He said, trying to shake the mysterious matter got on his finger. 

"I didn't do it!" Armin exclaimed. "I have no idea what it is." 

Eren ran his hands down Armin's arms. "Armin, are we dead? Are we dead together? Hange told me that you had blood poisoning and were going to die.” 

“I think I was supposed to. Blood poisoning, it can be fatal. In my condition...I wouldn’t have been able to fight it off."

“But then, Min, how are you better?” Eren asked, staring his mediterranean orbs into Armin’s crystal blue eyes. He had missed those eyes.

“I don’t know, Eren. It must be some a miracle. I guess my body just decided to fight back.” He looked at the alien matter on his skin. "It's like my body...pushed out the infection. Even though that's not possible."

“Are you really real?” 

“I was going to ask you that, but I don’t think in my fantasy you would look like Moses and smell like a trash heap, and I definitely wouldn't be covered in a layer of slime. Why do you smell like garbage?”

Eren scoffed. “I was smoking while I was walking downstairs and I accidently tripped and fell into a trash can.”

Armin opened his mouth to ask questions, but then decided he better just leave it at that.

The brunette yanked the smaller man forward for a kiss. It was short and ended up with them both pulling back, saying, “You taste terrible.” 

“No, you do."

“No, definitely you.”

“Hey, there’s a shower in here, you know? With toothbrushes and shampoo and everything.” Eren said, waggling his eyebrows. 

“Yeah, how about a razor?” Armin winked, tugging on Eren’s beard.

“What, you don’t like my prophet beard? Maybe this is the new me.”

“Well, if you’re wanting to go the beard route, I can get behind you on that. I love you just the way you are. I’ll buy you all the beard combs and beard wax and whatever. But all this," He said, motioning as a whole to Eren's body, "Sort of just looks like you didn’t shower or shave for two weeks. So I think it needs to go.”

Eren hummed. “Makes sense. I'll shave my beard if you wash off your nasty alien goo. You're like an enormous, humanoid placenta.”

Armin leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Eren. “I love you so much, and that is fucking disgusting.”

“I love you too, Min.” Eren said with a smug chuckle. 

\--

Hange arrived at Armin’s room, pushing the door open, Levi immediatly behind her. They were both short on breath from running across campus. They first looked at Armin’s bed, which was empty, and splochy with a sort of jelly-substance mixture of puss and blood that smelled rank like infection. The hospital equipment that had been keeping Armin alive was thrown around haphazardly, and the small finger clip which read Armin’s heartbeat was laying on the floor.

“Well, that’s why he doesn’t have a pulse.” Hange murmered, picking it up and holding it between her fingers. 

On the table next to the bed were two small bullets, still painted red with blood. Hange took one up and held it in her hand, then dropped both the small items into Levi’s open and waiting palm.

“Huh.” He said, inspecting the small pieces. 

Eren was gone as well, and he hadn’t left Armin’s side since he had been admitted to the hospital. 

Besides the bullets and gelatin in the bed, there was a trail of clothes on the floor leading from the bed to the bathroom. A hospital gown, then a dirtied pair of jeans and a well-worn grey button down shirt. Two pairs of boxers were kicked off last, right on the floor next to the shower stall. The bathroom mirror was still fogged over from the shower, and two urgent sets of wet footprints exiting the shower showed there had been two people, one with larger feet, one with a bit smaller, running out of the shower, back into the hospital room. Other than a trail of clothes, messed up bed and wet footprints, there were no other signs of the missing patient and his counterpart. 

"What do you make of all this, then?" Hange asked, looking around, sticking her finger into the gelatinous substance on the bed and rubbing it between her thumb and forefinger. 

“What the hell.” Levi whispered.

\--

Armin smiled, spitting toothpaste down the drain as he watched Eren shave off the rest of his large beard, revealing the familiar face of his best friend and lover. He still looked tired and ragged, but very, very happy. Eren leaned forward to softly kiss Armin, his breath tasting like sweet cinnamon. He held Armin softly, like he couldn’t completley believe he was real, and squeezing him too tightly now would make him shatter into a million pieces. He ran his hands down his friend’s soft, ivory sides. 

“How are you, Armin?” Eren asked, "Like really, after everything. You don't have to say you're okay. Just tell me what you need."

Armin closed his eyes, shivering a little as the water ran down on him. "I'm...it was terrible. So, so terrible, Eren. It was like an endless hell, that only existed for me. There was no one there to even commiserate with me about how awful it was. It was lonely, and frightening, and endless helplessness and madness." 

Eren didn't say anything, simply let his hands run gently down Armin's back soothingly. 

"When you came...and I saw Jean die...I thought that there was no way that it could be real. I had wanted it for, what had only been a week in real time, but for me somehow being on the drugs, it had felt like an eternity. In that moment, as I got Jean's blood and brains and spinal fluid splattered all over me, that was the first time in years that I felt peace. And I know that's so fucked up, but its true." 

Armin sighed before continuing. "I never thought...I never thought I'd be whole again. I thought I'd be scared of everything. Writing, sex, being who I am. But I think for the first time, I feel...safe. Like I'm ready to not be afraid anymore. It's counterintuitive since this should have made me more afraid, but its the opposite. I don't have anything to be afraid of anymore. And I know I will have some bad memories and nightmares and probably won't be able to swallow cum ever again since that was all I ate for long time. But overall, I mean it. I really think things are going to be okay." 

"You're amazing, Min." 

“You are too.” He ran his hand over a bruise on Eren's chest. "Is that from where Jean shot you?"

Eren nodded. "Even with a bullet proof vest, it still hurt like hell. I can't imagine what you and Erwin felt." 

"When I saw you walk in the door and watched Jean immediately pull the trigger, my heart stopped. I thought I was going to watch you die. It was so terrifying, Eren." 

"Yeah. Thank Mike for the vest, it's like he knew I would need it. I was being a dumbass. I just get so worked up when it comes to stuff with you." He said, running his hand down Armin's face. 

Armin smiled at the comment. He slowly moved forward, gently pinning Eren’s back against the shower wall, meeting his lips in a slow kiss that turned harder and more passionate, adding tongue gently, like he was getting used to the feel of him again. He ran his small hands down Eren’s caramel skin and nuzzled his nose into his neck. 

“Your body is so soft, Armin.” Eren murmered, running his fingers down his arms, then down his front, past his hard length, noticing how hairless he was.

“Yeah, yeah I know. It makes me look even younger than I already look with this stupid haircut. I wish it would all grow back so I'd look like a man again.” He pouted, as Eren ran his fingers through Armin's short, uneven haircut. 

“Well you look beautiful just the way you are.” Eren whispered. “but I can fix your haircut. I’ll even it out. And it will grow back to your Edward Elric golden ponytail in no time."  

Armin smiled. "The sooner the better, so I can get back to my alchemy. Or boring editing. Or you know, whatever." 

Eren smiled, slowly leaning into kiss his friend. Their lips connected slowly and Armin smiled as their tongues rubbed against each other, then joined in a sweet, soft dance. 

"Min.” Eren murmered into the kiss.

Armin moved Eren’s hand down, guiding it to his length, which was resting between he and Eren’s stomach, next to Eren’s own long, weeping member. 

“Ren. Will you...touch me?” Armin whispered.

Eren inhaled brokenly as Armin suggested it. “Min, I don’t want to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. I know you said you were fine, but we can wait, as long as it takes. Don’t think that you have to do anything to please me.”

“I don’t hurt anymore, Eren, and I’m not afraid. I’m not going to let Jean ruin any more of my life or keep me from doing what I want with the people I care about. He’s gone now. Really, really gone, and I never want to think about him again. I want to forget about him.” He sensually looked at Eren through his large half-lidded azure eyes, water droplets clinging to his long eyelashes while he pushed the taller man back a little so he sat down on the shower seat. Armin climbed on top of him, straddling him. "Help me forget, Eren." 

Eren lunged forward, catching Armin's lips in his own greedily as he heard the request. He kissed him hungrily while he slowly wrapped his large hand around their hard lengths, gently pushing them together. 

Armin let out a soft, delicious moan. 

“Aah, Ren.” He cooed, leaning his head forward on Eren’s shoulder. Eren spread his legs wider as he held Armin’s weight on them, his back against the wall and the shower water falling on them slowly like a rain. 

Eren slowly jerked them, taking his time, moving his hand up and down their lengths while Armin reached up, digging his hands into the soft mahogany curls at the base of Eren's scalp, letting out soft, breathy whimpers with every motion of Eren’s wrist. 

“Aah, Ren, yes.” He moaned. Eren loved hearing the rarely used nickname ushering forward from those parted pink lips, it was beautiful. He wanted more. He wanted Armin underneath him again, but he knew he couldn't be greedy. The last thing he wanted was to hurt the person he cared about the most. He shivered, listening to his beautiful ministrations, and it didn't take the blonde long to reach his peak. “God, I’m going to cum, Eren!” Armin cried out, bucking forward while he leaned backward, throwing his hair behind him in a beautiful scene. He squeezed his lover's brunette locks in his hands and came hard on his chest and face, the brunette licking his prize off his lips with a smile. At the sight of Armin’s sexy orgasm, Eren came immediately on their chests, with a shudder and a gasp of Armin's name. They kissed again and stood back under the water, cleansing their bodies with the lemon smelling body wash and washing their releases down the drain. 

“Aah, Ren. That was so amazing. I hadn’t come in so long." He gasped. 

Eren kissed down the side of the blonde's neck while he practically growled, drinking in Armin’s presence. “Min. I need you in my bed tonight. I’ve missed you so much.”

Armin nodded. “I can't wait to sleep next to you again, Ren. I’m so glad I’m alive. ”

Then he gasped. 

“Oh my god, Erwin! He saved my life! Is he okay?" Eren opened his mouth, then immediately closed it, realizing he actually didn’t know the answer to that question. He had been so wrapped up in Armin, he had rarely thought about Erwin.

“I have to go find him. I have to go. Oh my god.”

The two hurried out if the shower, Eren pulling on a change of clothes Mikasa had brought for him, and opening a dresser, he pulled out a pair of generic blue hospital scrubs. 

“I found these when I was looking around.” He said, throwing them to Armin, who was standing naked in the middle of the room. For a minute Eren didn't want to give him the clothes, he just wanted to stare at Armin's beautiful body. It was smaller now, skinnier, like it had been when they were younger. No matter what he looked like though, Armin was so, so beautiful. Even if he had never fully healed, if his body had been all scarred up, he would have still been the most beautiful person in the world to Eren.

“Oh, perfect!" Armin said, as Eren reluctantly threw him the doctor's scrubs. "Do you want to play doctor?”

Eren sighed. What a tease. “Later?”

Armin winked. “Later.”

Armin slid the scrubs on, even adding a pair of hospital booties to match, and a mask. 

Hey, its your lucky day.” Eren said, finding a stethoscope in the top drawer of a nearby cabinet. Armin laid it around his neck, completing his outfit, which had at first been just clothes, but now had turned into full on doctor's cosplay. He looked like a 12 year old boy going to career day.

Armin smiled. “It is my lucky day, but I don't think it's because we found a stethoscope. More like because I resurrected from the dead.”

Eren smiled. “Right.”

They hurried to exit the room, on the way to Erwin’s. Not seconds after they left, Levi and Hange came running up the hallway from the other direction, finding their room empty.

\--

Eren remembered vaugly what room Hange had told him Erwin was in if he ever wanted to visit. It was in a different part of the hospital, which was probably a good thing, it meant Erwin wasn’t in intensive care like Armin at least, but it took them forever to get to his room. They had to trek all the way across campus, even traversing between buildings by bus. Hope there’s never, oh I don’t know, an emergency. Eren thought, rolling his eyes as they waited for the bus to drop them off.  
They hurried as fast as they could, but on the way they did stop by a vending machine to pick up some mini donuts, the first food Armin could remember having in a long time. 

They finally arrived at Erwin’s room and pushed the door open. Unlike Armin's setup, in Erwin's room there was hardly any hospital equipment in sight, save for a tall metal stand which held an IV bag, the small tube leading to Erwin's left arm. The room was sparsely decorated otherwise, with a bed, a cushy salmon-colored chair that was pulled up close to the side of the bed, a nightside stand, and the generic long counter with sink and swivel doctors stool. Erwin was sitting in bed, shirtless, with a few bandages wrapped around his large, muscled chest. He had a newspaper folded over in his hand and appeared to be doing the crossword puzzle, the pen in his opposite hand as he scratched his blonde hair with the cap. Armin had just seen Erwin a few days ago, when he had saved his life, but seeing him again made his heart leap. He looked very much alive and healthy, not to mention he was sporting some nice, well kept stubble, and it actually made Armin weak at the knees.

Armin burst into his room and then stopped immediately upon seeing him, Eren crashing into him from behind, both of them falling to the floor tangled up in a heap of legs like something out of a slapstick comedy. The sound made Erwin look up, then drop his newspaper. 

“Eren, and Armin?” He gaped.

The two stood up. They looked different from the first time Erwin had met them, two young excitable kids in a bar. Armin was skinny and a little ragged, with a short uneven haircut that made him look much younger. Eren looked older, haggard and tired, but they both looked perfectly at peace.

“Hi, Erwin.” Armin breathed. He didn’t know what to say. This man had nearly given everything for him a few days ago. He had taken five bullets, five that had been meant for him.  
They had had some bad history. Well, more like all of their experiences together in the past had ended up shitty. But after what Erwin had done for him, he deserved Armin’s trust and gratitude. Not only that, but at that moment, he had showed Armin that he cared. That he cared enough to really, really do something about it. Even if he was clumsy, didn’t know how to relay his feelings, didn’t know how to be with someone, Armin was ready to try again. 

One last time. 

And if he messed up again, they would try again, one more time. 

And again. Until they finally got it right. 

Because Armin knew, from the bottom of his heart, that Erwin was the one person in the world that was perfect for him. 

“Armin?” He asked again.

“Yes.” 

“Is this real?”

“I hope so.” Armin replied, crawling up on the bed and straddling the older man’s hips. The older blonde reached out and put his hand against Armin’s face. He felt normal. No fever, just regular. 

"Armin." Erwin said again. "They just left to see you....your heart stopped beating. Armin...are you a ghost?" 

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Armin asked, as he reached up to feel Erwin's chin hair, Erwin's eyes sliding closed as he felt the small, familiar hand brush over his blonde, coarse stubble. 

"I do if it's you. Will you stay with me? Even if you're a ghost, please stay with me forever." He whispered, wrapping his arms around the smaller blonde, looking like he half expected his arms to go right through his middle and him not to be real. 

"Will you take care of ghost me? Buy me ghost food and get me a ghost kitten?" Armin asked, a small smile creeping up the side of his face. 

"Of course. Anything you need, love. I don't know where to get ghost food but I'll find it for you." He reached out, running his fingers through Armin's short, choppy hair. 

"Hey, he's real. Really. Everything about him is real. Seriously. You would not have liked him like 10 minutes ago. He smelled fucking terrible." Eren chimed in. 

Erwin looked at him with a grin. "Is that so?" 

Armin explained waking up with no wounds and covered in the gelatinous substance while Erwin listened thoughtfully. 

"So its like your body expelled the infection on its own in unconventional ways." 

Armin nodded. "It smelled, like, oh my god. It was the worst. We took a shower then, and came to see you right away, but you look fine." 

Erwin nodded. "I'm doing well. So if you're not a ghost...then you’re the cutest doctor I’ve ever had.” Erwin said, yanking him into his chest. “Are you going to give me a checkup?” He asked, with a wink. Armin pulled his stethoscope down and put it in his ears, listening to Erwin’s fast beating heart through the glass. 

“You sound good to me.” Armin said softly. He felt tears welling up in his eyes again. He was here with Erwin and Eren, and he wasn't dead. It wasn't like his nightmare at all. He had survived. This was real, and it was perfect.

“I'm good now.” He whispered, holding the smaller man close. 

“You saved me, Erwin.” Armin whispered. “Why did you do that?”

“Of course I did. And I would do it again and again. Even if it killed me. You’re worth it, angel. And, remember I told you, I have deep feelings for you, feelings I can't explain. I’m so sorry for everything. I just don’t know how to do...us. I’ve never done this before. All I’ve ever done is me. It's different to have someone else I care about and have to take into consideration.” He sighed. 

“I undestand.” Armin smiled, his small hand finding Erwin's cheek. “It's okay. We have time to adjust, if you want. Can we start over?” 

“Yes, I’d love that.” Erwin said, a smile spreading across his face.

Armin smiled, holding out his hand. “I’m Armin.”

“I’m Erwin.” He smiled. 

“Nice to meet you.” They said simultaniously.

Eren collapsed in a chair next to Erwin’s bed with a comfortable sigh. 

“So, Eren, how did this happen? Do you have any insight on Armin being resurrected? Not like I'm complaining.” Erwin directed his question to the brunette while Armin reached forward, running his hand through Erwin’s hair and stubble again, before winding his hands carefully down his chest. He couldn't get enough of the larger man. He was fairly certain he could spend his entire life with him and never have enough.

“I don’t know, honestly. I woke up, and he was...him." Eren looked down to see a stack of things beside the chair he was sitting in: a phone, book and keys and recognized them. Hey, where’s Levi?”

As if on cue, Hange and Levi burst into the room. “Erwin we can’t find...Armin?” 

Levi looked at the smaller blonde straddling the larger in the bed and froze. "What the hell." 

"Hi Levi." Armin hummed. 

“Ah, god, I'm getting a real shotacon vibe here," He said, motioning to the younger-looking Armin straddling Erwin, "And It's weird.” He murmured, "But more importantly, Armin, Hange just told me you were dead." 

Armin sighed. “Well, I’m not. I don't know why, I'm just not. And I'm also not a prepubescent boy, my hair will grow and I'll look like a man again soon, you know.” He leaned forward to plant a kiss on Erwin’s lips while Erwin went to wrap an arm around the smaller man's waist, easily and gently pulling him under the covers with him, until he was sitting in his lap, his back pressed against his large chest. Armin picked up the newspaper, looking at the half-done crossword puzzle.

“How are you here, Armin?” Levi asked, crossing the room to Eren and plopping down on his lap comfortably, turning and kissing him on the lips.

“I don’t know.” Armin whispered. Levi leaned forward toward the bed, and getting Erwin’s attention, he dropped bullets into the blonde’s waiting palm. 

Erwin looked confused as he inspected the bullets. "Where did these come from, Levi?" 

"Ask Armin." 

Erwin turned to Armin. "Where did these bullets come from, love?" Erwin asked, holding out his hand to show Armin the projectiles. 

Armin shrugged. "I don't know exactly. When I woke up, and everything was fine and I was healed, like I told you, those were just resting on my stomach." 

“Well, someone’s got to know what's actually happened.” Erwin stated, rolling one of the bullets around between his large fingers. "If it's not you, myself or Hange," He said to Levi, "Then I think I know who might.”

“Mike.” Hange said, squinting, her nostrils flaring in anger. 

\--

After a few hours, Mike joined them in the room. He was sitting on the swiveling doctor's stool, and they were all waiting for Hange. Armin had taken up residence sitting between Erwin’s legs and leaning up against his chest. Erwin was gently kissing and suckling on the nape of the smaller blonde's neck as he ran his large hands under the his shirt, thoroughly enjoying his baby-soft skin, while he and Armin worked on the crossword puzzle together, exchanging quiet words.

“I don’t know this one.” Erwin said, pointing to a five letter down, beginning with “E” as he slipped his hand down Armin's pants, slowly rubbing his thumb in small circles on his upper thigh. Armin hummed in contentment at the feeling. "Is this okay?" Erwin asked, kissing his neck, and Armin nodded, before reading the crossword clue. “Poet’s Muse. Oh, that’s easy. It’s Erato.” Armin said, filling it in, while Erwin smiled proudly, rewarding the smaller man with a gentle kiss to the back of the neck and a soft squeeze to his smooth thigh. 

“You’re so smart, angel.” Erwin praised. “What about this one?” He pointed to a shorter set of blanks with the clue “It may be half baked.”

“Well," Armin said, leaning back up against Erwin's chest in thought, "Its an idea, probably…” He hummed as he looked at the crossword, “but...yeah, that’s why.” He erased one of the blanks Erwin had already filled in. “This one is supposed to be grits, not gruel. And there’s your letter "I" for idea.” He smiled, and Erwin kissed him again on the top of the head, lowering his lips and softly sucking a kiss behind his ear. “You’re so amazing.”

Erwin's heart was beating fast. His mouth said "You're amazing," but his body was saying "I need you, now." He didn't want to do anything that would hurt Armin. After all Jean had put him through, no matter how "fine" or "better" he said he was...he didn't even want to touch Armin without him being alright with it. If that meant that he had to jerk off to a picture of him for the next 10 years, he could live with that. Not like he jerked off much, he was older, but right now, with the smaller man's warm butt pressed right against his half hard length, he had no doubt he could. If it were just he and Armin alone in here, he would shamelessly have Armin underneath him in a heartbeat...if the smaller man wanted it. He craved those beautiful, sweet moans and needed to chase them from his lips again, and needed to hear him pant and scream his pet name while he came over and over until he was sated and sleepy. He wanted him. He wanted to keep him forever. He wouldn't leave Armin this time. Not ever again. Not for all the money or power in the world. He shuddered, shaking off the idea of having Armin spread out on the bed, moaning while he gently took him. God. He squeezed his eyes closed. Not here Erwin, get it together. 

“What’s this one over here?” Armin asked. "Erwin?" The older man behind him suddenly looked lost in his own world. He was panting a little, his mouth slightly open. Armin wondered what he was thinking about, and smirked a little, wondering if it was about him. So dirty. He rolled his hips, just a bit, rubbing his butt against Erwin's hips to get his attention, making the older man shudder. "Are you paying attention to me?" The blonde said teasingly.

Erwin blushed a little. "That one. Um, ah." Erwin paused. "Uh, the clue is ‘It’s found in blood', but its only three letters, that ends with E. I can’t think of it.”

Armin chewed on the pen. “Hmm, I don't know that one either.”

“It’s ‘Ore’.” Levi said dryly from he and Eren's seat a few paces away, and the two blondes murmered thanks and filled it in.

Eren was teasing his partner by running his hands gently over his upper thighs and hips, nibbling gently on his ear.  

“You look better, Eren.” 

“I feel better. I’m sorry that I never came to see you and Erwin. I was so preoccupied with Armin, that I never asked you how you were doing.”

“Its okay. I’m sorry I never came to see you either. I was so worried about Erwin, but at the same time, I didn’t know that Armin was dying until like, an hour ago, when me and Hange went to see him. But he seems actually very fine to me now.” The two looked over at the blondes. He and Erwin were snuggling, speaking softly and exchanging sweet, slow kisses.

"Man, look at Erwin." Levi chuckled. "He's so ready to take Armin apart, but at the same time, too terrified to touch him." 

"Yeah, I was the same way earlier." Eren smiled. "But I think that he's going to be just fine, after awhile. He's not being the victim in this. I feel a change in him. Like for real. Like he's not made of glass anymore."

"Wow, he just came out of a coma and you were already on each other? Kids these days." He rolled his eyes, and Eren toyed with Levi's belt, breathing on his back sensuously. 

"Is that jealousy I hear? Don't worry. You'll get yours." He said, biting Levi gently on the shoulder. "If you want, we can step outside. I saw this little storage closet." 

"Such a tease, Eren." He said, then paused. "Besides, the closet is locked, I checked earlier." 

Eren sniggered. "How about I take you right here, then?" He whispered, his breath down the back of Levi's neck making him shiver. "I know Armin and Erwin would love to see that. Mike'd probably be into it too. Lets see if you scream so loud that the nurses come." 

Levi pushed Eren's hand away from his belt, where underneath his half-hard length was growing. "You're a real pervert, you know that, right?" 

"Just for you." Eren laid kisses over the back of his lover's neck, pulling him close. "So adorable. I missed you, Levi." 

"I missed you too. I was worried about you. I'm sorry I never came to you." 

"Me too. I don't think either of us really expected something like this to happen, something happening to our best friends. It was a hard thing to prepare for." 

They looked up at the blondes in bed "Well, they look right as rain now." Levi said, looking them over. 

Armin and Erwin were whispering, as Erwin's hands ventured farther down Armin's pants, the pads of his thumbs circling gently around the smaller man's hipbones. “Hey, get a room!” Eren yelled.

“You’re all actually in my room.” Erwin said with a deep, sensual voice, while Armin blushed. 

Hange entered the room and clapped her hands twice like she was trying to attract the attention of a bunch of grade schoolers. “Okay, everyone stop your touching and," She waved her hand at Mike "Whatever you're doing. We need to talk." Everyone turned their attention to Hange. "Now, who did it, tell the truth.”

“Did what?” Mike asked. He had arrived to the hospital with no urgency, and was dressed in out of place formal wear as if he had just been at a photo shoot. It was obvious that he knew something everyone else didn't, being that he didn’t find the fact that two of his friends were dying to be urgent.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Levi said.

“Who gave Armin the serum? It was obviously one of you two.” She said, looking at Mike and Levi.

“What serum?” Mike asked dumbly. “The serum’s gone, Hange. I told you that the other night.” 

“And I’ve been in here the whole time, except for when I left to take a shit. And there wasn’t a serum in there that I’d give to Armin.” Levi said.

Hange shook her head. “Levi.”

“Come on, Hange, He probably just healed on his own. Bodies are incredible, you should know that, you’re a doctor.”

“You expect me to believe his body just happened to push two bullets out, cure Septic Shock and heal up dozens of puncture wounds overnight? And lets not talk about the shape his asshole was in!”

“Yeah, lets really not." Mike mumbled. 

“Did you look at my butthole?” Armin asked, reflexively clenching his buttcheeks together.

“Yes, I’m a doctor!" She sighed, waiting for someone to talk, then clenching her fists and breathing out a large, frustrated sigh. “This was a really bad idea. There are medical records of what was going on with Armin. Erwin was enough of a problem, with his miraculous regrowing lung, but how are we going to explain this?”

There was quiet in the room, four out for the six people having no idea what was going on. 

Mike stepped forward. “Fine, Hange. I did it. It's why I was gone the last few days. I went back to Bear Lake to get the serum I buried there." Hange, Erwin and Levi were shocked. "It was the right thing to do. Armin’s part of our family now. Eren wouldn’t have been able to live without him, and Erwin’s pretty attached too. Levi, believe it or not, is fond of Eren, and if we’d lost Armin we’d have lost all of them. Everything’s connected. I’m not sorry I did it, I’d do it again.”

“Wait, I’m confused. I had...the...that serum? The one you guys made?” Armin asked.

Mike nodded.

From the right, a large uppercut came. Hange swung her fist with brute force, hitting Mike square in the jaw and knocking the much larger man to the ground. “Tell me next time, you blithering idiot. We can make a better plan then chasing a dead person around the hospital dressed as a doctor.” She walked to the bed, and hugged Armin. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Armin.” She said, her demeanor completely different when talking to the blonde. "Will you let me run some tests on you?"

Armin smiled. “Me too, and yeah, of course. But even if Mike hadn't of given me the serum, I’m sure you would have been able to find a way to cure me.”

“See, what’d I tell you. They think you hung the moon.” Mike said, rubbing his jaw.

Hange looked at her ipad. “Christ, then. Well we have to get all of you out of here tonight. We’ll get this all over in one fell swoop, like it never happened at all, and I’ll make up some paperwork or something. If I lose my medical license because of you, Michael January Zecharias, I swear, you’re sleeping outside all through the winter. With no blankets, or socks!”

Mike gave a half smile. If that was the punishment he got for saving his family, it was well deserved. 

\-- 

A few hours later, Armin and Eren were unlocking the door and strolling back into their quiet apartment. Armin’s pink and yellow comforter was on the couch where Erwin and Eren had been sleeping, and Ropter laid lazily in his cage as usual. 

“Home.” Armin said quietly, smiling. 

“Home sweet home. What do you want for dinner?” 

“Literally, anything.” 

The two worked together, chopping vegetables to make a simple chicken and vegetable stir-fry. While it was cooking, they both had glasses of cheap red wine, Armin sitting on the kitchen counter and leaning down to exchange lazy, chaste kisses with his roommate. 

"I'm so glad you're back, Armin." Eren hummed, and Armin nodded with a smile. 

After they were done with dinner and cleanup, Armin grabbed the scissors from their familiar place in the bathroom, taking them to Eren along with his hairdresser's apron. “Haircut?” He asked, twirling the scissors on one finger. 

Eren smiled, and they situated themselves in the kitchen, so the hair would fall on the tile floor and be easier to clean up. Eren tied on his apron and picked up the scissors, trying to figure out how to even out the hack job Jean did on Armin's beautiful hair. He was halfway through feathering the fine blonde locks when there was a heavy knock at the door.

Eren went to open it, still in his apron and holding the scissors. To his surprise, Levi was at the door, dressed in nice jeans and a blue long sleeved shirt and peacoat. He was holding a brown paper bag that looked a little heavy, and Erwin was beside him, looking excellent for someone who a week previously had half a dozen holes in his body and a punctured lung. Erwin was wearing a blue sweater that matched his eyes and neat light colored jeans. They both looked well rested and happy. 

“Hey.” Eren smiled. "We weren't expecting you." He wasn't sure if it was a dumb thing to say. They shouldn't have been expecting them. After all, its not like they were dating, they didn't have any sort of appointment set up or anything. This drop by was completely unexpected, and Eren was trying as hard as he could to not show how thrilled he was.

“Hey.” Levi smirked. “Sorry for intruding.”

“No, not at all. Come in.” 

He opened the door, leading Erwin and Levi in, Armin still sitting patiently in his chair in the kitchen waiting for Eren to come back. 

“Oh, hey!” He grinned, seeing the guests. “Sorry, Eren was just trying to fix my terrible bowl cut.” 

“Oh, wow. I didn’t know you could cut hair.” Levi said to Eren, his eyes following the brunette as he returned to the kitchen.

“I know, its kind of weird, right? My mom was a hairdresser and always had clients at our house, I just picked it up. You guys can just sit down or whatever you want I’ll be done soon.”

The two guests sat on the fluffy grey couch, since there were only two kitchen chairs and one was currently occupied. Eren created a clean, layered and feathered look with Armin's hair that went to about his chin, shaping up his fringe to fall into the cut more gracefully. The finished product didn't look as masculine as Armin's ponytail, not by a long shot, but it did look fashionable and cute. Armin tried to pull it back into a ponytail, but the short strands fell through his fingers immediately. He sighed, and settled with pulling a few of the strands back into a half pony while he looked in the bathroom mirror.

“I look 12 years old.”

“Nah. You do look younger, but your hair'll grown.” Eren said with a smile. "Besides, now you can order off the kids menu at resturants and save us money.” 

Armin punched Eren in the shoulder as they went into the other room. 

Erwin and Levi had moved to the kitchen and were unloading items from the brown paper bag they had brought. There was a cake, a small box, and a couple loose items, Eren’s brass knuckles and vest. 

“Oh yay!” Eren said, advancing to the table while Armin swept up his hair from the kitchen floor with a small dustpan and broom. 

Eren picked up his brass knuckles. " These are amazing, but I wish I'd have gotten to use them.”

Levi slapped him on the butt. "Well, you used this one." He said, holding up the bulletproof vest. "This jacket saved your life." 

Eren took it from him, looking at all the bullets imbedded in it. "Mine and yours. I guess we have this vest to thank for us both standing here today." 

Levi nodded, looking over the brass knuckles in Eren's hands. “And, you should never be sad you didn’t have to fight, kid. Be careful what you wish for when it comes to things like that.” Levi said. 

“Besides, you never know. Life always has other adventures. Maybe you could sock a home invader in the face or something. Armin smiled as he approached the table, looking at the fancy cake set out.

“Your hair looks beautiful.” Erwin smiled, reaching out to brush a few of the short strands between his fingers. “And, We missed a very important day a couple weeks ago, didn't we?”

The cake had “Happy Birthday Armin” written across the top on it, and the blonde smiled. 

“Did Mike make this?” He asked, as they pulled out some extra chairs and sat down to eat the delicious spice cake that Erwin and Levi had brought.

“Nah, we picked it up at that bakery 'Love Bites' down the street.” 

“Thank you guys so much.” Armin said quietly. “For everything. For this, for saving my life, for meeting us. Everything.”

They both smiled. “We’re glad to have met you.” Levi said. “Really. You’ve changed things for us, even if you don’t understand it.”

“You made us understand there was more to life then just...us. You've given us something real to fight for. Even though that sounds really cheesy.” Erwin said with a smile.

“Thanks.” Eren said. “Its been amazing, getting to know you both.”

Erwin picked up a small box and handed it to Armin. It was old and bronze looking, and the lid squeaked when opened. Inside was something that looked like a spring loaded cuff bracelet, and a short, sharp knife. 

“This was mine.” He said proudly. He took the two items out out and latched the cuff onto Armin’s wrist, showing him how the spring loaded knife pushed up to be hidden up a sleeve, but upon pushing the button ar the base of the palm, the knife slid put into the palm. 

“Its amazing!” Armin gaped.

“We didn’t give you a knife Eren, because they are dangerous. But this is hidden, and Armin I think could definitely be more of a sneak attack type. But I hope you never have to use the weapons we gave you.”

Armin smiled, playing with the amazing contraption. Eren grasped his brass knuckles, inspecting the spikes on the impact side. “ I love my gift, thank you for these. And Armin definitely could be a sneak attack type, especially looking like that.” He grinned, looking at Armin, who looked like a tiny, harmless bookworm. He popped the concealed knife out of his sleeve and pointed it at Eren. "Bring it." He said squinting.

“Hey, no friendly fire." Levi said, disarming the blonde , then handing the knife back to him. Erwin chuckled. 

“Thank you so much.” Armin said, beaming as he looked at Erwin. 

“Well, we’ll get out of your hair since we came by uninvited.” Levi said, standing from the table. “We just wanted to drop in and say happy late birthday.” 

“What? You’re not staying?” Eren asked, as he grabbed Levi’s wrist while Armin tugged on Erwin's sweater.

“Why...don’t you want to stay?” Armin asked. 

Erwin smiled softly. “Angel, I want to be with you all the time.  You just didn’t invite us so we didn’t want to be rude.” he said, reaching out for the smaller man's face. 

"Will you stay if we invite you?" Eren asked, and Levi and Erwin nodded. 

“Then stay.” Armin whispered. 

\--

“So, do you want to play a game?” Eren asked. 

“What type?” Levi inquired, as the two men, who had now been invited to stay, settled comfortably on the couch. 

“Do you guys play video games or are you too old for that?” Armin asked with a smirk, resting on the arm of the couch.

“We may not have been raised playing video games but it can’t be that difficult." Erwin said as they all situated on the couch across from the flatscreen tv and crackling fire. 

Armin put in Call of Duty, and the loaded up the 2 v 2 game mode. The first few rounds Eren and Armin absolutely creamed the older men as they got used to the controls, but after that the older duo became unbeatable. They were stealthy, tactical and worked perfectly as a team. It was a bloodbath. After a few rounds of hard losses, the losers decided they should switch to another game, while Levi and Erwin smiled smugly.

“Yeah, yeah.” Armin and Eren rolled their eyes.

“Well, we were in actual war, you know.” Levi volunteered. "Which is a lot harder than this."

“Yeah, we’ll blame it on that. What do you want to play next?” Eren asked. 

“How about poker? Do you have playing cards?” Erwin suggested.

“Oh ho, you don’t want to play poker with Armin. He’ll take you for all you’re worth.” 

Erwin opened his mouth to answer but at that second, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, looked at the caller ID and swore, then showed it to Levi, who got a bitter, annoyed look on his face. Erwin stood a moment, like he was deciding if he was going to answer the call or not, but then he pushed the ignore button and slid the phone back into his pocket. 

“Anyway, I’d like to see what Armin has in him.” Erwin said with a soft smile.

Immediatly after that, Levi's phone started ringing. He pulled his out of his back pocket, looked at it, and then ignored the call. Erwin’s phone started to ring again a few seconds later.

"God damnit." Levi murmured. 

“Is...do you guys need to answer that?” Eren asked, watching the interaction between the two men and listening to the ringing of the generic ringtones. 

Levi held out his hand for Erwin's phone and took both the mobile devices, walked across the room to the refrigerator and shoved them in the freezer, slamming the door. 

“We’ll take care of it later.” Levi said. “Right now we’re with you.”

“Who is it?” Armin asked, "If it's okay to ask."

“It’s our boss, Nile.” 

"Oh." Eren and Armin responded simultaneously, a million thoughts beginning to skate through their heads. 

“But, that’s a conversation for a different time. Today we’re celebrating Armin.” Erwin smiled, changing the subject. “Anyway, where were we?”

They pulled their chairs up around the small kitchen table again, and somehow, it was the first time that Erwin noticed the large glass terrarium. 

"Is... is that a snake?” He asked, pointing to the cage.

“Yep, that's Ropter.” Eren said with a smile.

“Oh, right that’s your greatest fear, isn't it?” Armin remembered. “Don’t worry, he’s friendly. He’s just a ball python, he’s not venomous. He just basically lays there. Sometimes he climbs up that branch.” 

“But he can swim really well, sometimes we put him in the bathtub. It's his favorite." Eren added with a smile.

Erwin just stared at the snake with a scowl on his face while the snake stared back, periodically sticking out his reptilian tongue.

“Don’t stare at Ropter, he doesn’t like that.” Eren said. “Now come on, sit down. He’s not going to hurt you.”

The two younger sat across from each other, and the two older the same at the small round table while they dealt out poker cards. They each put in cash and other valuables as stakes: Erwin’s watch, Levi’s all purpose tool, Eren wrote up an IOU for a personalized painting, and Armin put in a small gold necklace.

It was true, Armin was very good. By the fourth round he was wearing Erwin’s watch with pride on his arm, it slid all the way down nearly to his elbow. He had also won Levi's multi-tool, and had a pile of cash in front of him. The only person who hadn't lost much money from him was Eren, and the two older men knew the younger men were working together, but werent exactly sure how.

Armin would periodically lose, it was like he only won the rounds he wanted to. The game was to easy for him, they weren’t sure if it was because he was so intelligent, or if he just could instantly read people. 

It only a couple rounds later that Erwin noticed that Armin and Eren were making tiny, almost impossible to catch signals to one another. A chew on the inside of the lip, a rub of the forefingers together.  He smirked, not saying anything, looking up to catch Levi’s eye to see he had noticed it. They let the game progress, enjoying watching the two younger men and their flawless communication. 

It was deep into one hand, but Armin refused to call. Eren and Levi had folded early on, and it was just the two blondes left. Erwin wondered if Armin actually had a good hand, or was just playing with him. The younger blonde had bet nearly everything, except Erwin’s watch, which he was pretty intent on keeping no matter what, even if it didn’t fit.  
Erwin pushed his pile of money into the middle, which this time included Levi’s multi-tool and Eren’s painting IOU.

“I don’t have anything left to bet, I’m all in I guess we call?” Erwin said.

“How about this?” Armin said, scribbling something on a small piece of paper and tossing it in Erwin’s pile.

Erwin picked it up and opened the piece of paper, a slight indiscernible look crossing his face. “I’m not sure if you can bet with something that’s not yours, angel.” He said.

“What’s it say?” Levi asked, reaching over for the scrap of paper in Erwin’s hand. 

Erwin handed the piece of paper to Eren first, who looked up at Armin. “Really?” Armin grinned and shrugged. 

Levi snatched the paper from Eren’s hand, now curious, and read it aloud. “Loser has sex with Eren while Levi and winner watches.”

Levi looked at Eren, then at Armin, then at Erwin.

“Well, who’s the winner?” 

Armin and Erwin both laid their cards down on the table.

“Oops.” Armin said, a smile spreading across his face as he displayed his high hand. “I win.”

Erwin looked across the table, while Levi smugly turned the text on the paper over to show Erwin. 

“Guess it's time to pay the piper, Commander.”

Erwin looked from Levi to Armin to Eren. “Is...really? Is everyone’s actually okay with this?” He asked, checking in with each of them. 

“I am totally down with seeing the two men I care about most in bed together. I can’t imagine anything hotter than that.” Armin said. 

“I was just thinking the same thing.” Levi agreed.

“And I’ve kind of wanted to be under you since the first time we all were together. But, are you okay? You did get shot. LIke a million times.”

Armin frowned. “Oh, yeah.”

Erwin stood, yanking his sweater off over his head, revealing his amazing, muscled body to the table. His chest was completely healed. “The serum was still in my system so it healed me." He looked over the lanky, sunkissed man at the table. "Are we doing this now?" 

Armin and Eren looked at each other and then at Levi and then shrugged. "Heck yeah." 

Erwin let out a low growl. "Well, I’m ready. I hope you are.” He walked to Eren's chair, and dipping his head down, he caught the young man's lips in a short, rough kiss. He wrapped his arm around Eren's waist, throwing him over his shoulder. He was much larger than Armin but still easily carryable. Erwin was headed for the couch with his prize, but Armin said ‘this way’, and with his hand grasping Erwin by the belt and Levi by the sleeve, he dragged them down the hallway toward Eren’s bedroom at the end of the hall.


	16. It's Like Being On The Surface Of The Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I dedicated this chapter title to the temperature in my apartment. I don't have air conditioning and summer is the worst. I'm already ready for autumn!!
> 
> In other news, here's the chapter we were all way too excited for. This breaks the 100,000 word barrier, woohoo! Thank you all so much for reading, commenting and subscribing. It makes this so much fun to write when I know you're enjoying it!! <3

Armin released Erwin’s belt as the got to the bedroom, climbing on the bed with Levi in tow. He expected Erwin and Eren to join them, but that wasn’t what happened. Instead, the blonde put the lanky brunette's feet on the floor, then instantly knocked his long legs out from under him with a leg sweep, the younger man hit the floor hard, and Erwin smiled. 

Erwin joined the smaller man him on the plush, silver carpet, crawling over him preditorally with a growl. Eren produced his own snarl in return, as he used his forearms to prop himself up just a little, so his face was nearer to the elder man’s. 

Armin was already captivated by the interaction. He had always surrendered his body immediately to Erwin. Erwin was the epitome of strength, power and masculinity, and even though Armin knew Erwin would never force himself on anyone, the smaller blonde knew the soldier could overpower he or Eren without a thought. 

Even with that in mind, Eren wasn’t about to submit to the large blonde who was hovering over him. He wanted to show Erwin he had enough clout to be the Alpha male. He could hold his own. His snarl turned into a sneer as his eyes scanned over the man’s handsome face, then down his perfectly sculpted broad shoulders and six pack, before moving back up to his steady cobalt blue eyes with a growl. “If you were expecting an easy lay you were wrong, old man.” 

Erwin responded with his own sneer in kind. “I love that fight in you. It’s so alluring. I can’t wait to fuck it all out of you.” Erwin pushed Eren’s body to the ground roughly, grabbing the brunette’s tee shirt in the middle and tearing it in half, he shucked it off his body. The two were so incredibly different looking, in size, features and temperament, Erwin steady, even in his taunting he looked perfectly contained, like a calm crystal bay. Eren was fiery and unpredictable, like a wild, raging uncontrollable forest fire. 

Armin’s jaw was slightly open as he hungrily watched the two men wrestle each other for dominance. Levi looked on as well from where he was sitting close by on the bed, a similar expression of wonder on his face. He slid a little closer to Armin, brushing a short strand of golden hair out of his face, making Armin turn to him and give him a small smile. 

Erwin leaned over Eren, still holding him down with one hand splayed across his toned, sunkissed chest. He leaned down, kissing him roughly. They were determined to put on a good show for their partners, and the feel of their bare, fit bodies against one another was amazing. Erwin had wondered from time to time what Eren’s beautiful, caramel skin tasted like, and although Eren loved the feel of Levi, his compact muscles and the way he was so small cradled in his arms, being held down by Erwin was something different entirely. 

Their kiss was all teeth, Erwin biting into Eren’s lips and sucking on his tongue. He grabbed his chin tightly in his hand and turned his head, biting down on his neck so roughly he almost drew blood. 

Erwin had always been so, so gentle with Armin, like he was a flawless, ivory statuette, brilliant, beautiful and fragile. But Eren was a different story. Eren was like a tiger. Savage, primal, and basic. Erwin wanted to pull all of his savage nature out and play with it for hours. He growled again, as he bit down again on the other side of Eren’s throat, harshly grabbing him by the hair. 

“I’m going to fuck you into the carpet, kitten.” The elder man said, as he held the brunette down by his hair with one hand, the other hand fondling the younger man’s erection, which was tenting and visible through his tight, dark jeans. “You’ll have rugburns on your hands and knees for weeks.”

Eren hissed as Erwin twisted his hair in his hand and sucked a dark red kiss mark on his collarbone. “But first, I want to watch you come from just my fingers. Have you ever come just from having you ass played with? You will tonight.” 

Eren smirked, bringing his knee up into Erwin’s chest forcefully, causing the large blonde to release his brunette strands and he to wrap his leg around the blonde’s ankle and flip them over so the he was on top. Eren was straddling Erwin at the hips, and rolling his hips so his erection rubbed against the elder man’s hardening length, actually eliciting a moan from him. 

“Yeah, is that so?” Eren taunted, leaning forward and rubbing his fingers across Erwin’s lips, as Erwin allowed the younger man to take his hands and pin them over his head. “You know, I could show you real pleasure. I’m a good top. Just ask Armin, and Levi.” He smirked. “Give into me. Just lay back and I promise you'll enjoy it.” Eren said, leaning down and licking up the side of Erwin’s neck.

Levi was sitting legs spread on the bed, and Armin had slid into his lap, scooting back so he was resting against his chest. He was much smaller than Erwin, but he could feel Levi’s face right on his shoulder, and his petite arms rested around him gently. Levi was nearly exactly the same size as him, if not a little smaller. There was something perfect about being in his arms. It was so much different than being swallowed up in Eren’s long embrace, or sinking into Erwin’s broad chest. Levi was small, compact. Armin decided if they slept next to each other, their legs and feet would probably tangle up perfectly, which had always been somewhat comforting to him. He laced his small hands in Levi’s, smiling as he leaned back into him. 

“This is already fucking amazing.” Levi whispered in his ear.

Armin nodded. “I...I’ve never seen Erwin this aggressive. Or Eren, at least not sexually. It's like their completely different people.”

“Is it okay? Are they scaring you? We can do something else.” Levi concernedly, brushing Armin’s hair away from his face. "I don't want to bring back any bad memories for you."

“No...its...with Eren…and Erwin...” Armin mumbled, “It’s amazing.” 

Armin’s mouth hung partially open as Erwin easily flipped Eren back over onto the ground with a smile, ripping his jeans from his body.

“Maybe in the next life, Kitten. I think you're about 100 years too early to top me.” Erwin smirked, as he threw Eren's tattered jeans across the room.

The brunette managed to keep his underwear on, and scrambled away from the large man, not ready to give up his fight just yet. Erwin stood and slowly put on a show as he undid his belt and unzipped his pants, but didn’t take them off. 

The blonde stalked after his prey, who was a few paces down the hallway where Armin and Levi couldn’t see him. They could hear scuffling in the other room, followed by a large crash and a grunt, and then the yelling of “Let go of me, old man!” A few seconds later, Erwin came back in the room, dragging a thrashing Eren by the ankle, a smug look on his face. 

“Gotcha.” He said, dropping to the floor again and pinning his prize face down on the ground by his knee. He kept the brunette pinned while he dug through the armoire and pulled out a bottle of strawberry lube. He popped the cap open, dribbling some on his fingers while he pulled Eren’s underwear down roughly, beginning to tease around the brunette’s hole with his lubed fingers. He threw the lube up on the bed next to Levi. 

“What’s taking so long? Are you tired out already, old man?” The brunette taunted the blonde who was teasing him, “I can do it myself if you need to take a nap and read 'National Geographic' or something.” 

Erwin shook his head. “So mouthy. I’ll enjoy stuffing that sassy mouth of yours full of my cock later. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Or maybe you’d like to have Levi’s or Armin’s instead?” He asked, yanking Eren’s hair roughly so he was looking at the two on the bed. “You can suck on one of their nice hard cocks, while I fuck you so hard, you can’t even remember your name?”

A low, guttural moan came out of Eren’s chest.

Levi’s hands were running around the inside of Armin’s thighs, while he left small licks and kisses around Armin’s neck. Eren and Erwin both stopped to stare at it for a moment, as Armin softly cooed “Lee, mm.”

“Your body’s so small,” Levi whispered almost melodiously, like he was finally beginning to experience the amazing piece of heaven that was Armin.

“Your body is too, Levi, it’s the perfect size. It’s like we fit together.” Armin replied, lolling his head back on Levi’s shoulder as the older man slowly undid the younger’s pants, taking his time like it was a slow strip tease meant just for them. His hands softly caressed the blonde’s sides and upper thighs as he took his time with him, nibbling on his ear and neck.

Eren and Erwin were captivated at their slow exchange, Erwin continuing to tease Eren’s hole, their eyes glued to the two on the bed.

Eren finally broke their daze with another tease, “Well, old man, are you going to get on with it or not? Otherwise I’ll just jerk myself off here.” He said, reaching for his own length. Erwin slapped his hand away. “No you won’t. I won you as my prize tonight. And I want you to cum, just from this.” 

He pulled Eren roughly up to his knees and teasingly circled one of his lubed fingers around his rim one last time before shoving it in.

Eren moaned, and the two on the bed watched with rapt attention as Erwin slid one large finger in and out if Eren. 

“Is that nice, Kitten?” Erwin asked, biting slowly down Eren’s neck, leaving tiny bites along his tan side. His skin was beautiful and amazing. It was the perfect shade of honeyed bronze, with a natural sheen of its own. Erwin ran his tongue up the side of Eren's hip, nibbling into the toned body while he worked him open.

“Aaah, yes. Please...more.” Eren moaned.

“More what, Kitten?” 

“More...Commander, aah, please, touch me more.” 

Erwin smiled at how Eren had suddenly chosen to use his title instead of his given name. He loved it. He slowly added his middle finger alongside his pointer finger. He wasn’t taking as long to stretch Eren, or starting as slowly. Eren just didn’t appear fragile like Armin. Eren seemed like he wanted, like he needed to be ravaged. He was wild, with his tousled hair and dangerous sea green eyes. He wanted to be taken apart. Torn to pieces. Absolutely broken.

The elder blonde loomed over the smaller brunette, his teeth digging into the back of his neck again. He loved marking up Eren’s beautiful skin, and left a trail of kiss marks down his spine as he plunged two fingers in and out of him, watching the lube dripping down his thighs and feeling his body quaking beneath him, drinking in his moans and whimpers. 

Eren groaned incoherently as his cock hardened to the fullest extent, hanging between his legs and dripping pearly white precum on the carpet. Erwin swirled his fingers around the tip of Eren’s cock and put it to the smaller man's lips, urging him to taste his own essence, not pulling his fingers away from his mouth until the younger man finally opened his lips, obediently sucking the precum off his fingers as requested. Erwin's chest rumbled with lust. He pushed his fingers into Eren harder, and he continued to beg and moan.

“Erwin, Commander, ah, please!"

“Please what?” 

“Please, mmm, touch me!” 

“But I am touching you.” Erwin taunted, moving his body back and digging his teeth into one of the perfect round globes of the man's tan ass.

“Aaah, Commander, please, I need more!”

He slipped a third finger in finally, stretching and twisting, finding Eren’s prostate and beginning to rub over the sensitive bundle teasingly, making the younger man’s body shake like there was a current of electricity running through it.

“Gaah, Commander!” Eren’s fingers dug into the carpet, hoping to find something, anything to hold onto. 

“Mmm, yes, Kitten?”

“Guuh, nnh, aah, Please!” He shook, his elbows collapsing, but Erwin pulling him up by the waist, keeping him on all fours.

“Please what, Kitten, I have no idea what you’re asking for.” 

The larger blonde continued to massage the brunette’s prostate, the two on the bed practically salivating as they watched Eren shake and beg.

Levi worked Armin’s pants and underwear off slowly, gently running his hands down his soft thighs and lower abdomen. His own pants followed, not taking their eyes off their lovers playing on the floor.

Levi took the lube that Erwin had thrown on the bed and lubed up his cock, Armin already reading his mind and rocking back in his lap, causing Levi’s lubed member to gently slide up and down in between his soft, round butt cheeks, giving a teasing amount of stimulation to Levi’s hardened member, the older man’s eyes rolling back in his head in pleasure.

Levi poured lube into his hand and reached around, and gently taking Armin’s hard length in his hand, he began stroking. 

“Mmm," Armin gasped, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, he tried to be quiet. 

Erwin gasped and he and Eren both froze, arousal flooding through them as they saw his the silver-eyed man so gently pleasuring the small blonde.

“Oh my god.” Eren mumbled. He was still stuffed full of Erwin’s thick fingers, but his whole entire world had sudden slammed to a halt, hearing breathy moans tumble from Armin’s mouth, despite his attempts to muffle them. Levi’s other lubed hand was reaching underneath Armin to gently finger around his entrance, while the blonde rutted back against the elder man’s hard cock.

“I thought we were the ones that were supposed to be on a show.” Erwin whispered to Eren, who smiled then groaned, as Erwin brushed past his prostate again. 

“Hardly.” Eren responded. “They’d outshine us any day. They’re the most beautiful.” Erwin leaned up over him, sucking gently on his shoulder.  
They looked past Armin at Levi, as the intoxicatingly beautiful silver-eyed man spared a moment to pull off his shirt, then his partners, revealing both of their milky white chests. They were so much smaller than their two counterparts roughhousing below them, and seeing them together was endearing and so, so sexy.

“Why’d you stop?” Armin panted, his bangs sticking to his forehead as Levi jerked and fingered him, and he rutted back against him. His question had been directed at Erwin and Eren.

Taking that as a command, Erwin leaned over Eren, thrusting into him with his fingers mercilessly, assaulting his prostate. He was holding Eren up gently by the chest with one arm, as his elbows collapsed from the pleasure, his eyes blurred, his whole body shivering and his precum dripping in a near steady stream onto the carpet. Erwin slapped his hand away when he tried to touch himself again. 

“No. Be good. I want to watch you cum just from this.”

“I can’t.” Eren panted, tears streaming down his face. Aah. Please, give me more!”  
Upon request, Erwin slipped a fourth finger in, making Eren gasp sharply, then keen at the larger stretch. His eyes rolled back in his head and steady moans escaped from his lips, a line of saliva dripping down from his mouth to the floor as his tears hit the carpet along with his precum. 

“Come on Kitten, you can do it.” Erwin said soothingly.

Eren rutted back hard against Erwin’s fingers as he curled them, massaging Eren’s prostate and making him scream. The sensation without release was too much for him.

“Erwin.” He cried out again, and Erwin leaned down, gifting Eren with another bite into the shoulder.

“Do you want me to touch you Kitten?” 

Eren nodded, mouth open. 

“Use your words.”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes, Commander.” 

“Mmm, very good. But you’ll have to ask Armin. It’s his party.” They both looked up at the blonde, who was rutting against Levi, while the darker haired man moved a finger gently in and out of him and jerked him off. Armin tried to muffle his moans by biting his lip.

“Laissez-nous entendre votre voix, petit oiseau.” Levi whispered, first in French, then he repeated it in English, whispering seductively in Armin’s ear. “Let us hear your voice, little bird.” “Don’t you want our lovers to know how good I can make you feel?” 

Armin gasped at his linguistics, it was the sexiest thing he had ever heard. He nodded, and sweet moans ushered forward from his mouth as Levi used his small hands to pleasure him, Armin rolling his hips back against him, returning the favor. 

Eren and Erwin were both overly turned on at the sight, Erwin slipping off his pants and boxers, and putting his large cock between Eren’s thighs, pressing them together he beginning to rut into them. 

He attacked Eren’s sensitive bundle of nerves with his four fingers relentlessly, Eren letting out wanton moans while he shook in Erwin's arms. 

“Look at Erwin, Armin. Look at how good he’s making Eren feel. I think he’s going to tear him apart.” Levi smiled, gently kissing Armin’s neck and down his arm as he slipped a second finger in him. Armin was hot at the sight of Eren naked and dripping, and Erwin thrusting his large cock in between his thighs, Erwin's precum dripping down Eren's legs.

“Please, Armin, please, will you let me cum?” Eren begged, looking up at his friend, tears dripping down his face.

Armin looked at Eren, then Erwin, a smirk gracing the corners of his lips. “But you can come, Ren, whenever you want.” He bit his lip seductively, and Erwin twisted his fingers inside the brunette again, making him see white and moan. He collapsed in Erwin’s arms again, but did't quite find release.

“Please Armin, I need more.” He groaned, his body wobbling. 

“You’re almost there, Pet. Push through. You can do it.” Levi interjected, rock hard from watching the show and from Armin working his hips against him.

Eren closed his eyes, blinded by the pleasure, Erwin digging his teeth into his shoulder again.

“Maybe some visual stimulation will help.” Levi said, he and Armin looking at each other. He pulled away from Armin, the smaller man laying out on the bed, and the Ravenette positioning his body over him. 

Eren’s eyes were swimming and his breath quickened. No way.

Levi gently opened Armin’s legs, applying more lube, and with one hand on Armin's thigh and one behind his neck, he slowly pushed into him, the blonde immediately wrapping his arms around Levi’s neck and locking his legs around his waist.  
Levi laid his lips on Armin’s immediately and they kissed as the older man gently moved in and out of him, Armin's body adjusting to his intrusion.  
Levi began to move faster, whispering in the blonde’s ear in French while the beautiful moans he was famous for poured from his lips, but this time he was moaning “Levi.” It was beautiful, and the way the smaller men fit together was mesmerizing. A wave of arousal burned through Eren’s body, his back arched and he came immediately with a needy moan, painting strings of pearly cum all over the carpet underneath him.

“Oh my god.” Eren shook, collapsing into Erwin’s arms. 

“Good job. You did so well, Kitten.” Erwin said, flipping him over and touching his face with his broad hand. He put his thumb on Eren’s chin, opening his mouth a bit as he leaned in for a kiss. It was soft and slow, and this time Eren didn’t resist.  
He let Erwin’s body move with and on and through him, bringing with it his strong grasp and the soft smell of rain. Their lips locked and the kiss deepened to the sound of Levi making love to Armin on the bed. 

“Let's go up there.” Eren panted as they pulled out of the kiss, and Erwin nodded heartily in agreement. He scooped Eren up, and dropped him on the bed in front of their two lovers, on all fours again, his knees and hands indeed having the rugburns Erwin promised.

The two watched as Levi rolled his hips, pressing into Armin, gently grasping one thigh and pushing it up higher to get a better angle, Armin crying out his name. “Aah, Levi, mmm, yes!”

Erwin gently ran his hands over Eren’s body, kissing him softly on his back, inspecting the bite marks he had made while they watched Levi treat Armin so gently. 

Levi had never seemed like the gentle type. He couldn’t even keep houseplants alive, and was pretty “meh” about all living things except for basically cats. However, watching him with Armin, the way he cradled his body underneath him, the gentle look in his eyes, it was something Erwin had never seen before. It was absolutely breathtaking, and he was about to interrupt it. 

Erwin whistled through his teeth at Levi, who looked up at the two men who joined them in bed.

“Oh, did we miss the rest of the show?” He panted, “Sorry, we got distracted.” The ink-haired man smiled, a smile that wasn't seen very often. It was mischievous, perfect, and absolutely stunning. He obviously was not sorry, as evident by the smile, and the sweet, soft kiss he leaned in to gift the blonde underneath him with.

“Not at all. Show’s just beginning.” Erwin smiled. “Are you ready for me, Eren?” Erwin asked. 

Eren wasn’t sure, but he damned well wasn’t going to say no. 

“Impress me, Commander.” 

Erwin slid slowly into him, his length and girth far superior to Levi’s, so he knew it would take Eren awhile to adjust. The brunette gripped the sheets, shaking as his mouth fell open. 

“Oh my god.” He mumbled, feeling Erwin’s enormous length moving into him. He sheathed himself entirely, then slid out, then slowly back in, Eren’s eyelids fluttering, and for a moment he thought he was already going to pass out.

“Oh my god.” He said again, not believing the feeling. It was amazing. Levi was petite, feisty, and talented with his hips, but Erwin’s size and the way he filled him up was absolutely mind blowing. Erwin finally had slid in and out a few times gently, and was softly running his hands up and down Eren’s arms. 

“Is this okay?” He asked, cautiously.

Eren moaned. “Fuck me hard, Commander.”

The older man smiled, and grabbed bruisingly hard onto Eren’s hips, pulling out and snapping back in, making Eren fist his hands in the sheets and yelp. It was completely opposite of Levi and Armin, who were moving soft and slow, exchanging slow, gentle kisses as Armin’s fingertips raked down Levi’s ivory, muscled back, slowly making red lines as Levi gyrated his talented hips. Erwin rocked into Eren hard and fast, making him see white, and the whole world absolutely blurred. 

“Don’t kill him, Erwin.” Levi teased, as he looked over and saw Eren’s head hanging forward, his back arched, not sure if he was even fully conscious.

“Don’t worry.” Erwin leaned forward, and with two fingers, turned Eren’s head back toward him. His eyes were glassy and half lidded in pleasure. He leaned forward, catching Eren’s lips in a surprisingly soft kiss.

“You’re so beautiful, taking my cock like this, Kitten.”

“Commander, more.” He moaned. “Harder.” 

“Do you want more of my cock?”

“Mmm.” Eren’s head fell forward again, seeing white and passing out momentarily, and Erwin tilted his chin back up. 

“Was that a yes, Kitten?”

“Yes.” Eren moaned.

“How do you ask, Love?”

“Please Commander, fuck me harder. I want you to fuck me until I pass out and I can't walk.”

Erwin smiled as he pushed Eren’s chest roughly down into the bed, pounding into him zealously, Eren's cries echoing around the bedroom.

"See, Levi? He loves this.” Erwin panted.

Armin shuddered as he moved under Levi. “I want to watch.” He said breathily.

“Is... can I put you on my lap, is that okay?” Levi asked. “You won’t be able to see me, is that okay or will that scare you?”

Armin nodded slowly. “Lets try.” 

Levi pulled out of Armin then slowly sat them up and he got on his knees, bringing Armin in front of him, putting him in the same position. 

“Now just sit down on me, Little Bird. I’m right behind you. And Erwin and Eren are right there.” He said, looking at his two lovers just a few inches from them on the bed. “We’re all here with you and will keep you safe. Nothing bad will happen to you while we’re here.” He kissed him behind the ear.

Armin slowly sank down on Levi’s cock, one hand reaching behind him to be in Levi’s hair, the other covering Levi’s hand that was gripping his hip, Levi’s arms immediately rushing to touch Armin’s smooth body. Armin moaned as Levi took him, the position hitting a different spot and the feeling was amazing. Armin’s erection was bouncing freely and wet against his stomach. 

“Eren,” Erwin said seductively, “I have a special surprise for you.”

“Hmm?” Eren asked, barely able to speak as Erwin relentlessly filled him. 

He moved them forward a little on the bed, until Armin’s dick was right next to Eren’s face. “I want you to help our birthday boy find his release.”

Eren nodded, obediently, not able to think anymore. His world was white and all there was was Erwin. He was reaching for Armin’s member, but Erwin pulled his hand away, gently pinning both of his hands behind his back. 

“No, Kitten, with your mouth.” 

Eren looked at Erwin then at Armin, who was panting open-mouthed at the thought of having Eren and Levi on him at the same time. He reached one hand down and gently tangled his hand in Eren’s soft chestnut strands.

“Its okay, Ren, I’ll help you.”

Eren slid his mouth onto Armin’s hard, dripping length, taking the whole member in his mouth while the blonde held his chin in one hand gently, his other hand brushing through his chocolate locks.

Armin moaned at the feeling, tightening around Levi and his fingers gripping Eren's hair harder. Levi continued his gentle pace, moaning as Armin's hole tightened around him in pleasure, while Erwin continued to brutally pound into Eren, making him pant and keen, hardly being able to stay around Armin’s dick as the pleasure racked his whole being. Up above, Erwin reached out and ran his hand down Armin’s face, then Levi’s. 

“You both are so amazing.” He murmured.

“You guys are so hot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so arousing.” Levi panted, and Armin agreed. 

Erwin looked down to where Eren was trying hard to stay on Armin’s cock, but the pleasure was overwhelming him and the only thing keeping his head up was the small blonde's gentle hand on his chin. Erwin pulled out and flipped Eren over, so for the first time he'd be able to see Erwin. The brunette looked absolutely wrecked, his cheeks were flushed, eyes glassy and half lidded, tears on his face. It was amazing. Erwin slid his hands under Eren’s neck, tipping his head back, allowing Armin to slide his cock back down the brunette's throat. 

“Now you can fuck his face, angel." 

Armin put his hand on Eren's face and slid his dripping cock back down into his mouth. It slid easily down his tongue and throat, and Armin began to thrust his hips gently, barely pushing it in, not wanting to hurt Eren, so Levi took over. With his hips still attached to Armin’s, his hand joined Armin’s in the chestnut locks and he thrust his hips, so Armin’s cock went down Eren’s throat completely and roughly. 

Eren’s back arched as Erwin slid into him again, this time just spreading his legs and putting them over his shoulders, in order to go in as deep and as fast as he could. Armin, with the help of Levi, fucked his face, going in deep, the sounds of him gagging egging Levi and Armin on further. Eren and Armin both moaned with the pleasure and overstimulation. 

“Do you like that, Little Bird? Me so deep inside you, while your best friend swallows your cock while our other lover fucks him to pieces?” Levi’s statement was practically a growl. 

Armin nodded, mouth open and panting, and Erwin leaned down next to Eren. 

“How about you, Kitten? Do you love having my dick so far inside you you can't even think, while Armin chokes you with his cock? Have you watched how well Levi can pleasure him? How does that make you feel?” 

Eren let out a slow, drawn out moan. 

God. Tonight was probably going to kill him. It was so, so amazing. 

He loved Armin. He loved being with Levi. And now he was suddenly beginning to have unexpected, overwhelming feelings for Erwin too. What was this? This feeling or this, whatever it was? He didn’t understand. 

All he knew was that suddenly everything in him had shattered into a million tiny pieces and he was becoming something new. Someone who needed Armin, and needed Erwin, and needed Levi. 

He was the one who had been made of glass all along. But not anymore. Now he was being rebuilt, into something else entirely. Someone who belonged with Levi, and Armin, and Erwin.

Levi ran his hand down Armin’s face gently, giving him a kiss on the throat. “Can you come for me, Little Bird? I think that Eren want to taste your cum.”

At the thought, Armin’s back bowed and he let out a choked gasp, and with one last buck of Levi’s hips, Armin came hard into Eren’s mouth. 

“Mmm, is that good, Pet?” Levi’s question was directed at Eren, as he swallowed up stream after stream of Armin's release. Eren nodded with a lustful “mm,” and Erwin pulled him back onto his lap forcefully, bringing Eren's lips to his own, his thumb on his chin.  
The brunette kissed The elder man deeply, sharing Armin’s release with him, passing the sweet essence into the other's mouth with his tongue. Erwin kept his mouth against Eren's, as the cum traveled between their mouths for a moment, some spilling down their chins and lips.  
Erwin’s eyes slid shut with a “mmm”.

At the display, Levi came unexpectedly and immediately, filling Armin up completely with his seed, painting his insides white as he held him tightly around the middle.  
Armin’s cock dribbled again as he saw his lovers sharing his release, if he hadn’t come just moments before he would have again. Erwin was gently holding Eren’s dark brown locks, and was situating him into his lap gently. They finally pulled out of the kiss and swallowed, cum dripping down both of their chins and necks.

“You did so good, Kitten.” Erwin praised Eren, as he readjusted the smaller man on his cock, sitting him on his lap facing him, Eren’s legs wrapping around Erwin’s back. The larger man started to move his hips, wrapping his hands around the brunette's thighs, pulling him up and dropping him down in his lap, and the younger man moaned, seeing white and approaching his second release. He reached forward, digging his fingernails into Erwin’s chest.

“Aah, Commander, yes! He cried out, tears running down his face as he leaned in against the elder man, letting himself be fucked relentlessly. Erwin came inside him, but didn’t stop, even as the cum dripped out of Eren's hole down his cock he continued to pleasure the brunette, pushing for his release.

Levi bit into Armin’s shoulder, whispering “Holy fuck I might cum again.” The blonde moaned in agreement.

Eren came seconds later, swallowed up by a white light, he collapsed against Erwin’s chest.

Erwin licked his face gently and ran his fingers through the sweaty brunette locks, waiting the few minutes it took for Eren to regain consciousness. “You did so good Kitten. You were so beautiful.” 

“We’ll clean you up. Come on, Commander.” Levi summoned Erwin after a bit, and the two slid off the bed heading toward the bathroom to get some towels. When they came back, however, they saw something else entirely. 

Armin was crawling toward Eren, a pouty look on his face. They hadn’t seen the look before, it was something he usually kept hidden unless he really wanted something. He pushed Eren flat on his back as he crawled up his body and got to his face, locking lips with him softly, hungrily, tongues tangling and Eren humming as he wrapped his arms around the smaller man, the contrast of their sunkissed and milky white skin beautiful. 

“Ren,” Armin said in a breathy voice, “Captain make me all wet inside.”

“Did he now?” Eren asked. The brunette looked pretty recovered for someone who had just gotten fucked half to death. He still had Armin’s cum on his chin, and his face was tear-stained, but his mischievous smile was back. He propped himself up on his elbows, his mouth dropping open a bit as ran his fingers over Armin's body. Erwin and Levi were barely in the room, but Erwin pulled Levi back against his body, covering his mouth, like if he made any noise the two would stop doing what they were doing.

“Commander fucked me pretty hard too, love.” 

“I saw that. I thought you may have died.” Armin giggled.

"Yeah, me too." Eren smiled.

Armin settled himself between Eren’s legs, spreading them.

“Armin…what...”

Armin lifted one of Eren's legs over his shoulder and moved to Eren’s hole, which was dripping with Erwin’s cum. Armin stuck his tongue into it, licking around Eren’s abused rim, tasting Erwin’s cum leaking out of him. He licked it up from his thighs, then slowly left little bite marks on Eren's tanned legs and hips next to the larger marks left by Erwin.

“I like the way you and Commander taste, Ren.”

Erwin suddenly found himself weak at the knees and collapsed to the floor, taking Levi with him. Eren and Armin smiled as Armin leaned in for a kiss, and Eren slowly lifted Armin’s hips up. 

Eren’s hands tangled in Armin’s hair. “Do you want my cum inside you too, sweet boy? Would you like that?” 

Armin nodded, as Eren grabbed Armin and slid his hips down on his hardened, dripping cock, making an obscene squelching noise, as they used Levi’s cum as lube. 

Levi’s mouth hung open as he watched Eren grip Armin’s waist and buck, Armin riding him beautifully, and the blonde moaning out the brunette’s name.

Erwin grabbed Levi and pulled him to the bed. He threw him down, and leaned over him, their lips colliding. They had never truly shown their feelings for each other, now they didn’t really know why they hadn't as they watched Eren and Armin. The younger men had been best friends who had just taken the leap when they hadn’t, and after all these years, they had been missing out on...well, this. 

Erwin grabbed the lube and quickly began fingering Levi opening. He was hardly gentle, but Levi didn’t need it. He just needed Erwin. He opened his mouth in a moan and said, “God, just get inside me already.”

Erwin slid into him, while he moaned at the incredible stretch. “Aah, oh my god, Erwin.” Eren reached over and gently laced his fingers with the Ravenette’s, who was spread out on his back, looking tiny compared to Erwin. “You look so beautiful like this, Levi.” He choked out, as Armin rode him.

Erwin squeezed Levi’s hips, throwing one leg over his shoulder, the other wrapping around his waist so he could fuck him deep and fast like he knew Levi would like. Erwin clenched the man’s small, pert butt while he went hard into him, whispering in his ear. “God, Levi, your body.” and “You’re so beautiful, baby.”

It was strange to hear Erwin call Levi baby, for him it didn’t seem like a well suited nickname, but in the heat of the moment, it worked. Levi reached up, his hands shaking, and pulled the man down into a long, deep kiss as Erwin rocked his hips, beginning to pleasure his ebony haired lover. 

Erwin pushed hard and fast into Levi, whose cock was dripping, smearing cum again on he and his blonde partner’s chests, his nails tearing into the blonde's biceps while his head fell back against the covers and loud moans escaped from his mouth. 

“Er-win.” He squeaked out.

“Yeah, baby?”

“Deeper. More.” 

Erwin lifted Levi’s hips just slightly and plunged deeply into him, making tears fall down his cheeks. 

Eren growled at the sight, “Oh my God.” he whispered, and Armin was practically salivating. He rode Eren harder to the background noise of Levi’s screams and Erwin’s panting, his hands digging into the brunette’s chest, and his hips becoming more erratic as he neared his peak. He grabbed his cock and began to pump it, moaning. Eren smiled, watching the blonde throw his head back in pleasure and hearing him whimper.

“Do you want my cum, Sweet Boy?” Eren asked.

Armin nodded, his mouth dropping open. “Inside. Inside me, Ren.”

Eren sat up, wrapping one arm around the blonde, his other hand wrapping around Armin’s length, pumping him, making him moan. They both turned to watch the older men, Erwin pulling Levi’s hair back and biting into his neck. 

“I’m…”

Armin came in Eren’s hand, seconds later followed by Eren inside of him, filling him up while Armin moaned. “Aaah, Ren, you’re so good. You feel good inside me.” 

Levi finished to the sound of Armin’s cries, but Erwin continued his rough pounding until he came, splashing his release inside of Levi. 

“Aaah. Levi.” He murmured, leaning in for a kiss, while Eren and Armin exchanged sloppy wet kisses, Eren still inside his lover. 

\--

They were finally cleaned up, the sheets were changed and they had crawled into bed. Erwin practically purred as Eren’s back pressed into his chest, spooning him. He was larger than Armin, but still seemed petite and young. He and the blonde were so different, but both so, so amazing. He loved them. He loved them both. He loved Levi. He loved all three of the men he was in bed with with an overwhelming fiery passion that started in his belly and felt like it was about to burst out of every cell in his being. 

Armin was being the big spoon for Levi, which was somehow the most endearing thing he had seen in the history of ever, the blonde in his boxers, his one arm resting under his head, stretched up onto the large grouping of pillows, while his other hand brushed through the small Ravenette’s hair as the smaller man pinned himself against his body. 

The way Armin caressed Levi’s hair, and Eren responded to Erwin’s light, gentle touches on his skin, he was certain they all felt the same way. 

This was amazing. For the first time in his whole life, he felt really, truly whole.

He ran his fingers down Eren’s neck, feeling the chain of Levi’s dogtag around his neck. Erwin smiled. He quietly got up from the bed. 

“Where are you going?” Eren mumbled. 

“Just to the other room. I’ll be right back.” He said, gently kissing him. He came back a couple seconds later and crawled back on the bed, leaning over the two men in the middle of the bed to Armin, dropping a necklace over his head. Armin reached up to feel it. He couldn’t read it well in the dim light, but could feel it was a dog tag. He smiled.

“There. Now you’re tagged like Eren so people know who you belong to.”

From out of nowhere. A punch came, socking him in the face.

“Don’t say that, you dipshit!”

It was Levi, who turned around and was running his hand over Armin’s face. Erwin hadn’t thought through how much what he had said sounded like what Jean had said and instantly hated himself for it. 

“You don’t belong to anyone if you don't want to. You’re your own person, okay?”

Armin nodded, smiling as he pressed his head into Levi’s. “It’s okay. Really. I want this. To belong to you. And Levi. And Eren. All of you. Is that okay? I know it doesn’t make sense, but its like I have feelings. For all of you. Is that bad?” 

“Yes. I mean no. It's not bad. Its okay. It's perfect.” Levi spoke instantly, then stumbled through his answer. 

“I feel the same way.” Erwin added slowly.

Eren let out a deep sigh. “I thought I was the only one.” 

"That's what I was trying to say." Levi mumbled.

Armin choked. “What does this mean, then?”

Eren’s eyebrows furrowed, visible even in the dim light. “What are we?”

Erwin shrugged. “Does it have to have a name?”

“Well...no…” Eren answered hesitantly.

“Just an explanation.” Levi said as he rolled onto his stomach.

“Like...boyfriends?” 

“I don’t like that word.” Erwin said running his fingers through Armin's hair as he thought about it.

“What, why?” 

“Because I’m an adult.” 

Armin shrugged. “Well how about like, Significant Others?” 

“Or we could just be like, a little family. None of us really have one, right?” Levi suggested.

It was quiet for awhile, and a smile came across Armin’s face as he brushed his fingers through Levi’s hair. “I like that.”

“Me too.” Erwin agreed, and so did Eren.

Armin let the necklace fall onto his chest as Levi snuggled into it again, facing Eren and they softly kissed, as Erwin and Armin’s fingers laced together on the pillows above. 

“Tonight was really amazing.” Armin murmured.

“But the real question is, does anyone ever top Erwin?” Eren asked, slowly running his fingers over Levi's lips.

“No, but..." 

“Don’t, Levi.” Erwin warned

“Eh heheh. No one but Mike.” Levi said smugly, sharing Erwin’s darkest secret.

“What?” The two younger boys said immediately. 

“You?”

“...And Mike?”

Eren shuddered a bit. “That’s so hot. I can totally see it.”

“Oh my god, Levi. It was one time. ONE TIME.”

“Hmm, was it though?” Levi said with a sly smile. 

Erwin huffed crankily. “Whatever.”

Eren rolled over and put his hands on his chest. “What? Its hot. Why are you so embarrassed about it?”

Erwin shrugged. “I guess because everyone knows.”

Eren smiled. “Does not matter. It's not like it was some little tiny guy you bottomed for. It was Mike. Pretty much any guy in the world would bottom for him. Even straight guys. I think you’re good.” He winked.

They kissed a little, while Armin ran his fingers through Levi’s hair. 

“Hey Levi?” Armin asked.

“Yeah?”

“You guys, you’ll be here when we wake up, right?”

“Damn right, but if you want, I can handcuff Eren and Erwin together for good measure.”

Armin smiled.

“Nah. They’d like that too much.”

Levi snuggled into his chest, while Eren snuggled into Erwin’s curled up in a ball like a baby.

“Goodnight.”  
\---

Armin awoke first, feeling a warm fluff of hair pressed to his neck, he looked down and saw a tousled tuft of black, and Levi fast asleep, pressed into him. He had turned during the night and was curled up next to Armin, resting his thin lips on his shoulder. 

Armin smiled. Looking across the sleeping Levi, he saw a the snoozing brunette spooning into the elder blonde’s large chest. Erwin was awake, his blonde hair messy with sleep, his fingers carding gently through Eren's hair as he gazed at him lovingly. His eyes met Armin’s across the bed and he gave a soft smile. Armin smiled as he looked across the men in bed with him. They were more than just people. They were family. His family. Armin’s heart fluttered.

Armin moved to climb off the bed and go into the other room and soon heard larger heavier footfalls behind him, and the sound of Erwin’s belt jingling. 

The blonde ventured into the kitchen and yanked Erwin's long sweater on over his boxers. It fell to mid thigh, the sleeves hanging over at least six inches on each arm as the neck hung off his shoulder a bit. Erwin came into the room in just his jeans, bearing his amazing abs and had to lean up against the wall at the sight of Armin in his shirt.

“Oh my god, angel, you're so cute.” He said.

Armin sighed, reaching to put his hair back in a ponytail out of habit but the shorter strands slipping through his fingers. Erwin approached him, picked him up and sat him down on the edge of the countertop so his feet dangled off the end, kissing him gently. 

They were interrupted by a knock on the door.

“I have to get that.”Armin said, breaking the kiss and jumping down from the counter. It’s probably my neighbor, this is the last straw this time, we're going to get evicted for being too loud during sex.” He smiled as he went to the door.

He swung it open, as Erwin went back to dig through the refrigerator so see breakfast options.

“Hi, Can I help you?” He heard Armin asked the person at the door.

Somewhat alarmed and feeling the immediate need to protect the younger man from the stranger, Erwin hurried to the door. “Who is it angel?” 

Erwin snarled when he saw the man. “Nile.”

The Admiral in the doorway looked at them, as the larger blonde slipped his arm around Armin’s waist, pulling him away from Nile.

“Little boys? Really Erwin, that’s in poor taste. You of all people.” He shook his head disapprovingly.

“Why are you here, Nile?”

“Well two of my best weren’t answering my calls, so I just decided to track your phones instead.” 

Erwin gritted his teeth. Asshole. “But why are you here now, Nile. At,” He looked at the clock. “8:32 in the morning.”

He tossed a Commander’s hat at Erwin, which hit it hit him in the chest, then fall haphazardly on Armin’s golden head, then on the floor next to them. 

“Good news, Commander. The Trost is all patched up. Playtime’s over, it's time to get back out to sea.”


	17. The Third And Last Time I'll Misuse The Word "Interlude"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You thought last chapter was the end, didn't you? Then there was Nile. Some people just have to ruin everything, am I right?
> 
> Side note, I wrote a short one-shot called "What Happened at Bear Lake" About Erwin and Mike (and the ONE TIME everyone talks about.) I also wrote a 'teaser' for my next fic I'll be starting after Fleet Week ends, "We Are The Reason You Lock Your Door At Night." I had fun writing them so be sure to check them out! (Or don't, I mean, you do you. Read, write, fly a kite. Do what makes you happy.)
> 
> Thanks so much for reading and commenting, I'm so glad to know you're enjoying reading Fleet Week as much as I'm enjoying writing it. This interlude begins the fourth and final part of our journey, so buckle in! <3

Erwin looked at the Commander’s hat lying on the ground, then back up at Nile. For some reason, it was like he had forgotten about Nile for a moment, and who he was, and what he had spent his entire life doing. All that had mattered for the last few days had been Eren, and Armin, and Levi. His family. The people in his life worth fighting for. He had been happier then he had ever been before. It was like after all these decades of searching, he had finally found the place in the world where he could call home. 

“You looked surprised, Erwin. Did you forget why you were in York in the first place? You know you’re not even technically supposed to be here, right? If it weren't for the attack on the Trost, we wouldn't have even been pulling back into York until next June." 

Erwin’s face was blank. He was completely at a loss for words. Nile was here. With him with his family. Ruining everything. They had finally just put everything back together, and everyone was okay. Things were perfect. They were going to live happily ever after together.

There was a shuffle in the bedroom, then a thump, followed by a "fuck", which presumably was Eren getting out of bed and discovering that he couldn't walk. Erwin would have thought the prospect was absolutely hilarious if it weren't for his boss standing in his doorway. He wanted to run in there to see Eren, help him up, and then tease him about the amazing night they had had. He never would forget the previous evening. It was so unexpected, and so, so amazing. It was like a dream, and now suddenly, everything was grinding to a screeching halt, like a car crash, all that was left was the eminent shattering of glass and the tire rolling by to signify the whole thing was really over. 

“Hey, Erwin?” Levi was calling him. He came up the hallway from the bedroom, his boxers low on his hips, upper body covered in scratch marks and bites. He saw the man at the door as he came up the hallway and donned a similar expression to the one Erwin was wearing. "What the hell...Nile?" 

Nile's brown furrowed. “What’s with the attitudes, gentlemen? You knew this day would come, hopefully you weren’t unpacking, because it's time to hit the road.”

“We’re not leaving. We quit. We're done.” Levi said definitively.

"You're done?" Nile repeated. "You know strangely, those are words that I never thought that I would hear from you." There was another thump from the bedroom, and Eren came down the hallway, propping himself up on the wall. There were more kiss marks and bites to be seen up and down his body then unblemished skin, and he looked exhausted. 

"What's...oh." His sentence faded off when he saw the man dressed in full military attire at the door, and he became aware that he himself was just in his boxers covered by obvious lovemaking marks. 

Nile gave a short laugh. "Well then, so that's what this is really about? These kids really caught you by the balls, didn't they?" 

"I don't see how that's any of your buisness." Levi replied, leaning up against the doorway. 

Nile looked him over. "Quite the contrary, since it's keeping you from returning to your posts, I'd say it absolutely is my business." He looked at Erwin. "What would your father say if he knew you were leaving the military for a man, Erwin?" 

"You want to talk about my sexual identity, Nile?" Erwin asked, raising one golden eyebrow in question. "My preferences didn't seem to bother you a bit the night your wife left you." 

Eren made it down the hallway and across the room to Levi, draping himself over the ravenette's back, who was looking very interested in the exchange between Erwin and Nile, as if this was a story he'd never heard before. 

"I'm not gay. That was a one time thing." Nile said, clearing his throat. 

A smirk was on Erwin's lips for just a minute, then it vanished, his lips transforming into a determined straight line. "Tell my father whatever you wish, Nile. His opinion means nothing to me anymore." 

Nile looked over the four of them slowly. From Erwin, to Armin to Levi then Eren. 

"I like you like this, Erwin. I've never seen you or Levi show quite this much heart for anything. Be that as it may, you can’t quit. You’re under contract. This isn't a gym membership, its the military, and you come when I call, you're my trained attack dogs. ” 

“Like hell we're under contract. Our military contracts were done the same time Mike and Hange's were, decades ago. We’ve just been with you up until now because we didn’t have anything better to do.”

Nile smiled at them. "Perhaps. But remember when I hired you for my special forces detachment?" He questioned, eyeing Levi's tattoo. "I gave you a unique, some would say, unethical mission. Does that ring any bells?" 

Levi sighed, feigning ignorance. "You gave us lots of missions that fit that description, Nile. We killed presidents, ignited wars, blew up ships, started coups. I think we're on INTERPOL's most wanted still, ironically enough." 

A slow smile climbed up Nile's cheeks. "You're fine. It's not like they know your names or faces. They're chasing ghosts. Anyway. But here's a great story. There was a really brutal kidnapping, a younger man was dragged off by his boyfriend or some terrible thing like that. So, they thought the kid was going to die, he was in a medically induced coma, all chopped up, his wounds were infected, he even got shot a couple times. It was ugly."  


Nile's eyes leveled with Armin's. "But then, here's the funny part, a few days later, he disappeared from the hospital. Gone, poof. Not in the morgue, no death certificate, just dead man walking. So how does this nearly dead man, in a medically induced coma, get up off his hospital bed and walk away?" 

Armin shivered in Erwin's arms, and Erwin squeezed him protectively. " What is this, a riddle? Are you going somewhere with this nonsensical story, Nile? And there's no way to say that he just walked away. Someone could have stole the body, he could have gotten transferred to another place, there's a million explanations, you're just drawing up conspiracies for the sake of argument." 

Nile rolled his eyes. "Don't play coy with me, Erwin. I know that you created the serum, that you used it on yourself and your team, and your little boy toy here," He said, his eyes scanning over Armin, "And due to that fact, all the blood running through his veins, belongs to me." He reached out to touch Armin's face, and there was a nearly silent sound of metal scraping against metal as Armin popped the blade out from his concealed cuff, putting it against Nile's outstretched wrist as he reached for him. There was no threat accompanied with it, only the action that was enough to tell him he was willing and able to defend himself. 

Nile pulled his hand back with a small laugh. "Feisty. I can see why you like him." He looked at Erwin, then Levi, then crossed his arms over his chest. "I didn't want it to be this way. I hoped you would come with me willingly. But if you don't I will be forced to court martial you, and Levi, and Hange and Mike all for treason, and this one here will be carted away to some facility so they can reverse-engineer the serum after they drain all the blood out of his veins." 

"If you touch him, I'll kill you." Eren, who could barely stand, growled. 

Nile looked at him. "No one will lay a hand on him as long as Erwin and Levi cooperate. No one even knows you made the serum except for me. It can be our secret, because I honestly don't care that much. I'll retire in a few years anyway, and the government will send a new team to try to do what you did. I don't give a shit. But I really need your help right now. No one can do this, except for you." 

Levi rolled his eyes. "That's horseshit, Nile. I'm sure you have tons of great special forces drones that are the right age for all these fun and games. We're old. Erwin's 40..." 

"42, actually." Armin hummed quietly, and Erwin gently tousled his hair while he looked a Levi. 

"...There are plenty of younger man who would be able to do whatever you want us to do better."

Nile shook his head. "You have experience, wisdom, and the high level of training needed for this job. Its unlike anything we've done before, and we need people we can trust." 

"And threatening our family is the best way to get us to cooperate?" Erwin questioned, holding Armin close. 

"You seemed pretty adamant that you weren't going to come around. Listen, I promise, on my honor as an admiral and as a man, this will be your last mission. As soon as this mission is completed, you'll be done. Honorably discharged, all the bells and whistles, whatever you want, you'll never see me again. I just need you for this, one last time. 

Levi threw his head back, rubbing his forehead. "So what's the job?" 

"I need to speak to you in private about this. It's a matter of national security." 

Levi rolled his eyes. "It always fucking is." 

Nile looked smugly at Eren and Armin, who looked back at Erwin and Levi. "Could you give us a minute?" Levi asked, and Armin nodded, grabbing Eren and together they made their way back to the bedroom, the door clicking shut behind them. 

\--

Nile finished explaining the basics of the mission to the two elder men, who listened with their jaws clenched shut. "I need everything you can bring to the table. You'll have help from my end, I'll send a few men with you, and provide all the resources you'll need. As soon as this is over, I'll draft your discharge paperwork." 

"How long will this take?" Levi asked, picking at his hangnails.

Nile shrugged. "You decide. You need to do the recon, and then decide how to proceed. It's a three step process. Recon, Infiltration, Extraction, Demolition." 

"That's four, you jackass." 

Erwin sighed. "No one's ever done this before, Nile. We're going to need a lot of different types of equipment. Submarines, sonar devices, diving equipment, I don't even know." 

"Rest assured, everything that the Navy has available is at your disposal. We just need this done. You witnessed the advanced tech and weapons that were used when the Trost was attacked. Even before the attack, my team was monitoring a suspicious manmade structure that appeared to be some sort of undersea base right below where the attack happened. From what we can tell, it's situated on an underwater plateau, on the top of an oceanic mountain, if you will. We've been monitoring it for some time, and there is a lot of coming and going, this must be the location of the terrorists who had harrassed the islanders true base was. 

Levi nodded slowly, like he still didn't exactly believe what Nile was saying. "So you're telling me, that the enemy's base you'd like us to get to is underwater." 

Nile nodded, and "As you've seen in action, the occupants of the base, whose identity remains unknown, possess some sort of advanced technology. We want the information about the highly advanced weapons that they possess, including their unmanned submarines, missiles and aquaplanes, and whatever else they are using or planning down there. You can get this for us." 

Levi clenched his fists, looking at Nile. "This is madness. You want us to infiltrate an underwater base that we know nothing about. This isn't James Bond. We don't have this type of resources. 

"You'll have everything you need, you'll just need to do the heavy lifting and get it done." 

Erwin sighed rubbing his eyes. "Just...give us a few days at least, to spend with Eren and Armin before we go." 

Nile looked at his watch. "Out of the graciousness of my heart, I will give you....six hours. The Trost takes off at 1500 hours. You'll be with us for awhile, then we'll drop you in a small research vessel with you and your team." 

"Six hours?" Levi exclaimed. 

"Mmhmm, you're welcome. See you soon." Nile said, leaving the two stunned men in the doorway. 

\--

It was cold, the October wind blew briskly around them as Eren, Armin, Mike and Hange stood on the long wooden dock. Erwin and Levi were dressed again in their familiar military wear, looking exactly like they had been when they had all met a few months prior. 

"I'm sorry." Stumbled out of Armin's mouth. 

"What, angel, why?" Erwin asked, stooping down and lifting Armin's chin so he could look at him in the eyes. 

"Because this is my fault. You wouldn't have to go if it wasn't for me." 

"Technically, it would be Mike's fault." Levi said, looking up and meeting the taller blonde's eyes. "But none of us would take that back for the world. We couldn't live without you, Armin. It was true what he said. We'd travel around the world if it meant saving either one of you." 

Erwin pulled Armin tightly to his chest, kissing the top of his head, then he leaned down and passionately kissed the smaller man on the lips. 

Eren yanked Levi in for a searing kiss, holding him tightly, before Armin moved to Levi, rubbing his perfectly level nose with the ravenette's, gazing into his eyes. 

"Come home to us." He whispered, as Levi fisted his hands in Armin's black peacoat and they pressed their foreheads together. 

Eren pressed his head into Erwin's shoulder. "Yes. Please. Come home soon." 

"We'll be home before you know it. I miss you both so much already." Erwin whispered, kissing Eren's neck, still littered with his kiss marks from before. He ran his finger down the chain of Levi's dogtag. 

"You're our family now. We're always together, even if we're far apart." Levi breathed. "We'll be home as soon as we can. And then, we'll never leave again." 

Erwin took one of Armin and one of Eren hands, while Levi took one of each as well, they stood closely next to each other, while the wind whipped around them, blowing their hair and wildly and ruffling the lapels of Eren and Armin's coats. "We're strong because you are." Erwin said, lifting each of their hands up to his lips for a kiss. "We couldn't go on without you. Don't do anything reckless while we're gone, okay?" He smiled softly. 

The foghorn blew loudly, signaling the ship was about to depart, and after a couple more urgent kisses they tore away from each other. 

Eren and Armin watching the two board the ship and disappear inside, then watched in agony as the ship pulled away from the dock and continued to watch until it slipped out of the bay, out of sight. 

They began the slow walk back to Hange and Mike's apartment, each holding one of Hange's hands, like little children seeking comfort from their mother in a crisis. They got back to the two elder friend's apartment, took off their winter wear, and sat down to a movie with hot chocolate and cookies. 

"Don't worry." Mike said breaking the long silence as Eren and Armin sat on the couch squished between he and Hange, a cheesy Halloween movie on TV. "They've never been like that before in the entire 20 years I known them. They'll be back for you, even if they have to walk through hell to get here. They'll come home." 

\-- 

It was spring, the birds were chirping outside, and the flowers had started to bloom. Five and an half months. 169 days. 

Eren swung his foot high, and Armin blocked with crossed arms, returning with a quick knee to his assailant's chest. He made a skillful, calculated leap, and wrapped his legs around Eren's head, throwing them both to the ground. Eren twisted, breaking out of Armin's grip and rolling, aiming his fist for Armin's head, which was still laying against the grassy dirt. Armin dodged just in time, the brass knuckled fist slamming to the ground millimeters from his head, leaving four holes in the dirt from the spikes along the knuckles. Armin dodged a second time, as Eren swung his again, his fist slamming down similarly on the opposite side of the blonde's head, leaving identical marks in the grass. In a split second, Armin had a tight hold on Eren's arm that had landed next to him, and he switched their positions, twisting Eren's arm behind his back as he slammed the brunette face down in the dirt. He slid the knife out of his cuff effortlessly, and pressing the larger man to the ground, he touched the blade against the back of Eren's neck with a smile as he laid him out on the grass. 

"Yield." He demanded. 

Eren put his hands up, letting his brass knuckles slide off his hands onto the field in front of him. Armin smiled proudly as he released Eren, who rolled over to see Armin kneeling on the grass next to him, a proud smile on his face, ponytail and fringe blowing in the wind. His shoulders, chest and abs were more defined, as were Eren's, and both of their eyes burned with a sparkling fire. A small crowd that had gathered to watch the two men sparring behind the Krav Maga studio clapped as they finished their short match. 

"Thanks." Eren smiled with a wave as he got up off the ground, scooping up his weapons. "Our teacher won't let us fight inside anymore because he says we tear up the mats." 

"Because you do." Oluo said, rolling his eyes. "At least out here you'll poke holes in the grass, not my delightful mats that my wife--gaah!" His sentence was cut off as he bit into his tongue, violently splashing blood all over his shirt. 

"Man, again?" Armin murmured, and Eren laughed a bit as he pulled his shirt on, throwing Armin his. 

They slid back into their shirts and shoes, carefully tucking their dogtags inside their tee-shirts close to their hearts. They picked up their gym bags, heading over to Hange's for dinner. Hange and Mike gave them something to hold on to, like a little piece of Erwin and Levi that they could cling onto until they came back. 

They'd be back. 

They would be. 


	18. Cue The Imperial March

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 18!
> 
> I can't believe Fleet Week is nearing its finale, I feel like we just started this journey!! I'm in the process of outlining my next fic, which I put the teaser up for a few days ago, and am really excited about where it's going. I hope you stick around for it! I also just wrote a little drabble called "office politics", its going to be a 3-shot (is that a thing?) and I'll get the rest of it finished up today. Just fluff and smut with a happy ending if you're in the mood! 
> 
> Thanks so much for all your kudos and comments. This is my first A03 flick and its been amazing to have such great support!

Erwin looked at his watch. It was 12:00 AM. Another whole day had passed. Day 170. They had been gone for over five months. He chewed on his bottom lip. 

He stood on the deck of their small research ship, gazing out at the amazing night view. The ocean was painted black, still and flat in in every direction, a straight sheet of onyx glass. The sky was filled up with millions of stars, lit brighter than anything it was possible to see on land, and they were all perfectly reflecting in the ocean's still waters. It was breathtaking. It was a sight he never got tired of looking at, but right now there was only one thing he truly wished to be seeing, his family, curled up in bed with him. 

He heard small feet running up the stairs from the lower deck of the ship, and Levi appeared, looking similar to the night itself, black and silver, just like the stars and the sea. The blonde grabbed him by the arm, yanking him in and their lips connected, and Erwin felt like he was kissing a bit of the starlight itself. Levi wrapped his arms around the larger man, his fingers digging into Erwin's windbreaker as they kissed passionately, the older man's tongue sliding into the ravenette's mouth as he pushed him up against the railing on the deck. 

"Where is everyone?" Erwin whispered, as he fumbled with Levi's belt, hungrily sucking on his bottom lip. Levi. He love him like crazy. He wanted to be with him forever. They hadn't had much time together since they had left York, there had always been other members of their crew with them, first on the Trost, and now even more so on their small research vessel. There weren't many places to be alone on the small craft that was only about twice the size of a normal yacht. 

It was a state of the art watercraft, which had a place on the side for their small submarine, and even a small bay in the back for a small jet. There was a large deck, where they now stood and spent most of their day, and a stairway that went down to the lower deck, where the small sleeping quarters for the four occupants was and all the equipment was stored. 

It was a nice, small ship, filled will all sorts of gadgets and tech for them to use for the mission. Earlier in their careers, the two would have been honored and excited to be aboard it, but now, all that mattered was home. They needed to back with the rest of his family. They wanted to be anywhere but here. 

"Everyone's asleep." Levi whispered, as he returned the favor, unbuttoning Erwin's pants hastily. Levi yanked the blonde over to the bow of the ship, where a small, plush triangular shape bench was situated. He pushed Erwin down on it, straddling him, kissing him passionately as he unzipped the blonde's windbreaker and slipped his hands up Erwin's white tee shirt. He rolled their hips together, feeling their already hardening members press into each other. 

"Aah, Levi..." Erwin breathed. "I don't know if I can do this right now, baby. Today was really rough." 

Levi raised his eyebrows. "What would our younger lovers think if they heard you say that?" He teased. "Let me get you a cane and a cup of tea, old man." 

The blonde rolled his eyes, grabbing Levi and slamming their lips together. "I'm not old." He growled. 

He threw Levi down on his hands and knees and Levi hummed happily, glad he was able to get Erwin a little riled up. They had been fatigued lately. Being away from their lovers took it out of them, and this mission was tiring, not to mention they were making virtually no headway. 

Erwin yanked Levi's pants down to his knees, then his own, and began to finger the ravenette open using the precum from his own hardened cock for lube, which made Levi sigh in satisfaction. Erwin tried to go slowly, but he was hungry for Levi. He had needed him for so long. They needed each other. 

He was only two fingers in when Levi was begging for him. "Come on, Erwin. Fuck me so hard I pass out and forget about this place." 

Erwin pushed into Levi roughly, and Levi arched his back, opening his mouth about to let out a shout that was a mix of pain and pleasure, when Erwin's hand wrapped around the ravennete's throat, squeezing tightly, cutting off his moan before it could escape. 

"I love your voice, baby, but now's not the best time." He kept his large hand wrapped around Levi's throat tightly, silencing the moans and making Levi's mouth drop open in ecstasy at the new type of pleasure Erwin was offering to him. He took him from behind hard and without stopping, Levi's eyes rolling back in his head and tears running down his face, Erwin's large hand controlling and possessive around his throat making it so much more erotic. 

"Do you like that, baby? Do you like it when I choke you like this, while I ravage you with my cock from behind?" Erwin asked, adding a tighter squeeze to Levi's throat, who nodded vigorously, tears dripping down onto Erwin's hand.

"You take my cock so well. You take it all the way in like you love it so much, your hole is just swallowing it up, like a needy little slut baby. I bet you could just take my cock forever, couldn't you?" 

Levi let out a little moan and nodded, and Erwin knocked his arms out from under him, slamming the ravenette's head down onto the seat so his hips were up in the air at a perfect angle. They were delicate with their roughness and dirty talk around Armin. They hoped he'd be alright in the future for more types of play, but it was understandable now that things like that brought back bad memories, they couldn't penalize him for that. But out here, Erwin loved being able to treat Levi however he wanted to. 

His hips were in a perfect angle so Erwin slammed into him, hitting his prostate dead on while he gripped his hips with bruising strength. "Do you like that? I'm going to fill you with my cum in your needy, begging hole. I want to watch it drip out of you. You'll like that, won't you, since you're such a cumslut?" He slapped Levi's small butt hard with his large palm, then squeezed both cheeks hard in his large hand. "I could fuck your needy hole for hours." He growled, gripping Levi's hip with one hand, and laying another bruisingly hard slap across his butt.

Levi came on the seat beneath him with a low, guttural groan, and Erwin pounded into him a few more times, loving the way his small body quaked from the overstimulation. He finally came deep inside of him, pulling out and jerking himself so the last of his release ran down the back of Levi's legs and rested on his small, reddened ass.

"You okay, baby?" The blonde asked, and Levi nodded. 

"Mmmm. Yeah. Thanks. Didn't know you had such a filthy mouth on you. I kind of like it." He said with a grin. 

"I could tell." Erwin replied with a wink. They spent a few minutes cleaning themselves up, then returned to the side of the ship, kissing slowly and looking at the sea. 

The smaller man sighed as he leaned up against the railing, looking over the deck at the stars reflecting in the surface of the water, Erwin's arms tightly and lovingly wrapped around his waist. "I never thought I'd love anything more than I love the sky. When I first got my plane, I wanted to stay up there forever. I wanted to have wings. Flying is the most amazing feeling."

Erwin let a small rumble out of his chest. "I felt that way about the sea. I never thought I would want to be anywhere else. It's strange. To find something else. To find someplace that I want to be more."

"I want to go home. Home to Eren and Armin." Levi said, tucking himself back into Erwin.

"I know. Me too. What do you think they're doing right now?" 

Levi sighed, looking at his watch. "Well its afternoon there, so Armin went to the gym, then work, and Eren probably had a shoot, and then went somewhere where his picture is up in a gallery or something. Then I bet they'll go to Krav Maga and beat the shit out of each other later, and then go pal around with Hange and Mike, who are definitely a terrible influence on them."

Erwin laughed. "That's for sure. We have to get this job done, Levi."

"I know. It's looking impossible. We can't get down there undetected. They'll see us, and blow us to shit with their missiles. We can see the whole base. Its huge and well built, and whoever designed it has buckets of cash, enough to get all those people off that little chain of islands up there so that no one was around to see them constructing it and flying everything in."

"What about the scuba gear? According to the lab guy, it will recycle the C02, so we don't have to worry about running out of oxygen." 

"Yeah, but water's still really heavy. It'd be really hard on our bodies. I could do it, and you could, but there's no guarantees about the rest of the team. I'm kind of just thinking that we should just blow the whole place up and tell Nile it self destructed or something."

"Pretty sure he'd see that one coming. We'll figure it out. We just have to be smart. Put our heads together. Lets get this done, and get out of here. We have people waiting for us at home." Erwin said, as he gently ran his fingers through Levi's hair.

\--

The small unmanned submarine popped up above the water, the camera scanning around, zooming in on the two on deck. 

"Do we know anything more about our guests on the surface?" The professional, slightly accented voice inquired. The voice belonged to a impeccibly groomed man, dressed in a tailored suit, complete with a tie and pocket handkerchief. He had silver hair combed over to one side and perfect ivory skin. He looked like he had just stepped put of a TV news channel. 

The man stared at his reflection in the large, glass wall of his undersea laboratory. He was watching the video feed from his unmanned submarine as it was playing across the front of his contact lenses, and the question was directed to his captain beside him, a taller man, with beautiful, smooth ebony skin. 

"We don't have much new information to report, Dr. Cooper, their names are Commander Erwin Smith and Captian Levi Ackerman." He used a small, rectangular pad on his wrist to scroll through a list of information, all the data being displayed directly onto his contact lenses. "They're Navy, special forces. They served in the Northern Conflict." 

"The Northern Conflict, they're practically relics. Special Forces soldiers have on average a three year career. Tell me why their here, Dominic." 

"From what we've gathered, we believe they're working with the government and trying to get their hands on the military technology that you've been creating, sir." 

"Mmm. As usual. Isn't that always what the government wants." 

"Yes, sir. But they're having a hard time trying to get down here, of course. They're considering just blowing up the laboratory to destroy the tech altogether, according to a recent conversation. 

The man addressed as doctor sneered. "The could try." 

"Would they not be able to destroy the lab from above, sir?" The dark skinned man known as Dominic asked. 

The man shook his silver head. "Most likely, no. But they are getting in my way and on my nerves. We could dispose of them, but I believe that would just bring more. You know how the government is. All about their avenging and things like that. They'll spend billions of dollars just to show people on the TV that one person's meaningless death is avenged. It's absolutely ludicrous, the world we live in." 

"Yes, I agree, sir." Dominic replied.

"So, do you have anything else for me," He asked dryly. "Any other news on these men? Family, hobbies, dark secrets?"

The tall man chewed his bottom lip. "Just what I reported to you a few days ago, sir. The information we were able to pull off the men's mobile phones." 

The Doctor touched the small silver watch on his wrist, and pulled up the information that the man had been speaking of, viewing it across his contact lenses. 

Dominic turned around and looked at the glass walls that surrounded him. The whole entire compound was made of glass, but it didn't need to be, the ocean surrounding them was pitch black and dark, the sunlight didn't penetrate this far down into the deep, and the man was glad, he was terrified of the ocean. He didn't really want to know what was outside the thick glass walls. He could imagine the creatures that loomed there, feet away, and was glad all he saw in the dark was his own reflection and the doctor's, those were frightening enough. 

He put his hand against the thick glass, the only thing protecting him from millions of gallons of ocean water. The glass was nearly cold enough to freeze, the water on the other side of the glass must be ice cold. He wondered how much money it took to keep the lights on and the oxygen flowing through their lungs. Their tiny pocket of air and light in the middle of the enormous, dark and cold ocean. 

The doctor stopped looking at his information and looked at his dark skinned assistant. "When was the last time you went above, Dominic?" 

"It's been awhile, sir." 

The doctor hummed. "Its Spring, on the outside. You'll be able to see the sun, maybe pick some flowers. Have some real take out dinner." 

"Are you sending me somewhere, Dr. Cooper?" 

The doctor walked across the room to where there was a variaty of assorted lab equipment set up, and nearby a computer and printer. He picked two things up off the printer, and dropped them on the table next to where Dominic stood.

The man picked the items up and looked at them. He had seen them before, they were in a batch of intel he had discovered a couple weeks prior when he was looking up information on the men in the sea vessel just above them. 

They were photos. A young, very young looking blonde man, with short choppy hair. It seemed to be a privately taken photo due to the nature of it, as the blonde was barely covered up, just at the waist with a sheet, the rest of his body was completely nude. His head was resting on a pillow and his eyes were closed in sleep, long light eyelashes resting on his cheeks.

There was another photo, of the same private nature. It was a selfie, taken in the mirror by a dark haired man with piercing blue-green eyes. He was shirtless, showcasing all of his upper body, the picture cutting off dangerously low, right where his happy trail conversed with his well kept pubic hair. He was making a sultry face. 

Dominic gulped looking at the pictures. He wasn't sure what he was looking at. The men were significantly younger than the two soldiers. Were they friends? Sons? Lovers? He held the photos between his fingers a little awkwardly. 

"Find these men. We'll make sure the two above don't interfere with our plans." The Doctor said as he looked inside a beaker at a lime green, hazardous looking liquid. "Its strange, the things that people will do or not do for people they care about." 

"Sir, they're just regular civilians." He said, studying the photos. 

"Yes...." The man mused. "Maybe they should have thought about that before getting involved with the wrong people." He picked up a small folder. "Here's the information you should need to find them. Take a handful of men with you, in case they put up a fight. They look pretty harmless though." 

Dominic nodded a single, jerky nod. 

"Very good. I'll expect you back in a couple days with the hostages. Take the jet. It shouldn't take long. The sooner we get the men above out of our hair, the sooner we can finish our project."

\--

Cold hands wrapped around Armin's mouth and nose, long spidery fingers squeezing tighter, cutting off his air while a heavy body straddled his naked frame at the hips, pressing him down into a crusty, bloodstained sheet. 

"I love the way you look like this. Struggling for breath. Something about it is just so erotic." The familiar voice sent shivers up Armin's spine. Not again. He clawed at Jean's hands. 

"Let me go," were the words he thought, but wasn't able to get out of his mouth. He couldn't push Jean away. His arms were weak and his body was bloody and scarred. He could see the puss seeping out of the open wounds that covered him, and could see Jean's name, red and puffy, carved into his chest. He was dying. He was going to die. No one was coming to save him this time. The rest of everything had just been a dream. Being healed, having a family. It was too good to be true. To good for him. This was how he died. By Jean's hands. He deserved it. 

Jean flipped him over on his stomach, and pressed his chest into the mattress, wrenching one of his arms so tightly behind his back he was sure his shoulder was dislocated. He yelped out a loud, pained howl.

"Scream louder. I like that. Scream for me, you little bitch. I can't wait to hear it." Jean said, twisting his arm, shooting pain throughout his whole body. 

He grabbed a handful of Armin's choppy, dirty hair and roughly yanked him up on all fours, pulling his neck back in an uncomfortable position.

"I'm going to fuck you now. And you're going to take it, like the filthy little cumslut you are." He felt Jean pushing into him. It was dry and painful and he wasn't ready at all. He screamed out, and Jean twisted his shoulder more. 

"Tell me that you love it. I want to hear it." Jean growled. 

Armin cried out in pain. "Tell me you want it, or," Jean pressed a sharpened object against his throat "I'll slit your throat." 

Armin felt the blade, cold and sharp dragging across his neck, and he let out a screm and bolted awake, grabbing his neck. Eren immediatly jumped awake beside him. 

He wasn't with Jean, not anymore, not in that place. He was with Eren, softly sleeping with his head resting on his lover's chest in their safe, plush bed in their apartment. Eren's bare, strong legs were tangled with his as Eren concernedly brushed the blonde strands of hair off of Armin's tearstained face. 

"Min. Are you okay?" The brunette gently grasped the blonde's chin, turning it toward him as Armin scooted closer to Eren, so close it was like he needed to be inside his body. "Another nightmare?" He asked, and Armin responded with a jerky nod.

The nightmares had gotten significantly less over time, when they had first come home, they had been at least twice a week, but now they hardly happened at all. Still, they came every so often, ending with Armin bolting awake with a scream and in tears, Eren gently holding his lover, running his fingers through his hair until he felt better. 

Secretly, Eren didn't mind being the hero every so often. He pulled the blonde into his chest. "He can't hurt you. Not anymore. You're safe now." 

Eren held Armin close to him until his breathing stilled and the tears stopped. 

His fingers slowly travelled down, running around the waistband of Armin's boxers. He pushed the duvet that covered them back, as the spring light of morning was just beginning to stream through the blinds. He pulled Armin's boxers down a bit, revealing the small, watercolor fox tattoo on his hip, which was still a little red around the edges since he had only gotten it a few days prior. Eren ran his finger over it. I love this." He said, while Armin lifted his fingers, lightly touching the matching tattoo on Eren's toned pectoral muscle.

"Me too." Armin smiled. "And I love you."

Eren pulled Armin in for a kiss, weaving his hands through his golden strands, their lips slowly and softly moving against each other. 

The dog tags around their necks clinked together and Eren and Armin looked down at them. 

"I miss them." Armin said quietly, his chest aching, and he knew Eren held the identical feeling. 

"Me too. But, we shouldn't." Eren replied, pulling Armin's blue eyes to meet his own. "Remember what they said? They're strong because we are. We have to be strong for them. We're always together. Even if we're apart."

Armin nodded, and Eren wrapped his hand around the tags, and Armin's hand met his there, their fingers interlacing, pressing the tags in between them. 

"They'll be home. They'll come back to us."

Their lips met again, while their hands gently caressed each other's bodies, Eren running his hands over Armin's chest and arms, fingers running through his shoulder length wavy golden locks. 

Eren twisted a few of the golden strands between his fingers, amazed by how fast his hair had grown. He had looked cute with short hair, but he looked absolutely captivating with his long hair, and perfectly fierce with his ponytail. 

Armin rolled his forehead against Eren's. "It's almost time for me to go to work. Then we have krav maga, and game night." Armin reviewed their schedules. "Do you have a showing today?" 

Eren nodded. "I'll be at that gallery Wayz downtown for awhile, a couple of my paintings are up, including the one of my super sexy best friend on his motorcycle." He smiled, poking Armin in the ribs. 

Armin giggled. "Don't sell that one to anyone creepy. I want to keep it." 

Erein feigned a comtemplative look, rubbing his chin. "Well, I mean, depends on if I get any good offers. If some creepy old man offers me 10 grand, its all his." 

"Ew, don't sell me to a creepy old man!" Armin exclaimed. 

Eren giggled. " I would never. That's one of my favorite ones. It's going to hang in our apartment forever, then in our beach house until we're old and grey." 

Armin leaned in for one last kiss. "Thanks for taking care of me, Eren. I love you so much."

"I love you." Eren replied with a smile, as Armin's alarm clock began to ring. 

Armin climbed out of bed, shutting it off, "Well, don't be late for game night. You know how Hange is about that."

Eren smiled, "Yeah, I know."

\--

It was nearly 8:00 pm, and there was a knock at Hange and Mike's door. Hange went to open it with a smile, expecting the two boys that practically lived there now. Instead, it was two well dressed men, one with a Bible tucked under his arm.

"Excuse me, do Eren Jaeger and Armin Arlert live here?" One asked in an unrecognizable accent.

Hange's eyes scanned the beautifully dark skinned men, and her gaze turned froms supicious to ecstatic. "Of course they do, come right in!" She said, ushering them in. 

As soon as the door was shut behind them, Hange attacked the first with a knee to the head. 

Mike heard the commotion and hurried into the kitchen in time to see the second man draw his weapon. Hange kicked it out of his hand, then issued a crushing kick to the face, knocking both of the men to the ground.

"Did you just attack missionaries?" Mike asked, flabbergasted. 

Hange opened both of the men's suit jackets. They were armed with guns, knives, and syringes loaded with a milky colored liquid. She took the items from both men, as well as a photocopied photo of Eren and Armin from one of their jacket pockets. 

"They're not missionaries. Something's wrong, Mike." She said in the serious voice Mike rarely heard used. 

Mile was already tucking his weapon that he kept on top of the refrigerator into the back of his pants, while Hange was dragging the two men over to the chairs in the living room.

"Do--" 

His inquiry regarding if Hange needed help was cut off by "I'll be fine." She looked up at him as she roped the two men tightly to the living room chairs. "Go find the kids." 

With a nod, Mike threw the door open, bolting out into the night.


	19. I Used To Say I Want To Die Before I'm Old But Because Of You I Might Think Twice Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I added to my series 'Matchmakers" which consists "Office Politics" and "Levi and Eren Join the Mile High Club" So far. I'm kind of in love with it and it will probably grow more in the future. If you're in the mood for some smut, fluff and office pining, check it out!
> 
> I'm on vacation this week. I technically did finish up chapter 19 and 20, but am not completely finished editing/reworking 20 and don't want to rush it for Saturday. These last few chapters are where our baes really shine, so I want these to be perfect. Instead I split up this chapter into two shorter chapters, and once I'm back from out of town we'll wrap Fleet Week up!

Eren and Armin showered and met up outside the Krav Maga studio around 8:15.

"Ready for game night?" Armin asked, elbowing Eren in the ribs with a smile.

"I'm always ready. Are you ready to get dominated?" He asked with a flex of his well-defined muscles, easily displayed in his plain black tee-shirt.

Armin let out a short laugh. "By who? You? You can dominate me in bed, but in games, I think you kind of need a handicap."

"Oh come on. The only game I'm really bad at is Clue. And I'm not even bad, its just that you and Hange are way too good."

"Excuses, excuses." The blonde sighed. Maybe you'll beat me at something...one day. Maybe 'Guess Who?' That game is pretty straightforward. Or 'Go Fish'. We could try that one."

Eren poked Armin in the side, tickling him. "Whatever, you. What I lack in brains I make up for in tenacity and good looks." He squeezed the strap of his gym bag with his hand as he swaggered a little.

"Yeah, true. that checks out." Armin giggled, stretching as they slowly walked down the street, breathing in the fresh March air. "It's a really nice evening." 

The night was crisp and clear, and white cherry blossom petals were just beginning to fall from the numerous blossoming trees, swirling around their ankles as they walked. 

The air was pure, devoid of the usual city smog due to a recent rainfall, and flowers were beginning to open in bloom as the days got warmer. 

Eren agreed. "For sure. Spring's really pleasant this year so far. We should go to the beach soon, maybe rent a house for a few nights or something. Take some time off. Just you...and me." He suggestively ran his finger up the blonde's arm.

"Yeah, I'd love that." Armin grinned. "Maybe we can scope out a new favorite bar while we're there. I heard that one up in Twin Rocks, called 'Wayfarers'...I think...it's supposed to be nice." 

Eren's eyes widened. He was a little saddened by the statement. The small bar at Rockaway beach had been Armin's favorite for many years, but he doubted the blonde would ever be able to go there again after what had happened with Jean. 

"Yeah, for sure. I'd love to check it out with you. We can also look on yelp and see what else is good in the area. We can bar hop all night." 

Armin smiled. "I'm game." 

The sun had faded from the sky, leaving the night cloudless and chilly, with a few stars out for them to see over the bright streetlights lighting their way to the parking garage. 

Eren dug around in his gym bag, pulling put a cigarette and his lighter. He lit one cigarette, shielding it from the wind with his hand. He took a short drag, and blew it off into the night, then passed the slim white smoke over to Armin. 

"Uugh. Why did we park so far away?" Armin murmured as he took the cigarette from between Eren's fingers. He took a short drag, then grabbed Eren, pulling him close. He put his mouth on the brunette's, breathing the smoke into his while their tongues tangled, the strange, burning experience titillating as the smoke floated between their locked lips. 

Eren blew Armin's smoke out his mouth and smiled, a little blush on his face. "I like it when you do that." 

Armin giggled. "I like seeing you blush." 

Eren tucked the lighter in the pocket of his jeans, and Armin offered him the cigarette again. He took it back from the shorter man, and taking one last puff, he flicked it onto the pavement. "The only thing I'm addicted to is you." He said with a cheesy smile. 

Armin smiled, shaking his head and giggling at the unbelievable corny line. 

The brunette looked at the blonde out of the corner of his eye as they continued walking. Armin's ponytail swung gracefully as he walked, and a small smile sat on his lips. His shoulders had filled out, sloping down into a beautiful, curved back and slender waist which looked perfect in his forest green band shirt and distressed jeans. 

"What are you looking at?" He asked, when he caught Eren sizing him up. 

Eren's small smile widened. "Oh, just you." He responded, as he slipped an arm around the smaller man's waist, kissing him gently behind the ear, making the blonde let out an adorable surprised squeak. 

"You're not too bad yourself." Armin smiled back. "You really are a romantic, you know that? You and Levi both, you're the romantics between all of us." 

"Yeah?" Eren said, as they approached the garage, moving up the staircase to the level where they were parked, "So what are you and Erwin then?" He asked, pinning Armin against the wall, nuzzling into his soft hair. 

"The sensible ones. Who'll make sure everyone pays their bills, and brushes their teeth and goes to work, instead of just staying in bed and cuddling all day." 

"But I like cuddling." Eren smiled, pulling Armin's chin up to capture his lips in a long kiss, then issuing him a goofy smile. 

\--

They approached the dimly lit parking level, and walked across the empty lot to where their vehicles were parked. 

They saw a black car with dark tinted windows sitting next to Armin's bike. They slowed their step, for some reason, the scene felt strange to them. The parking garage wasn't frequented very often, it was a little out of the way and there weren't many commercial buildings nearby. It was unusual to have a car parked right next to them, when almost the whole rest of the lot was empty, except for Eren's SUV a few spots away, parked sideways across two spaces. 

They continued to walk cautiously toward their vehicles, and as they approached, six men got out of the darkened, expensive looking car. The men all had extremely beautiful ebony skin, and wore classy, well pressed suits, and looked extremely out of place in the middle-class neighborhood.

The two groups looked at each other skeptically for a few beats, not sure what was going on. 

"Eren Jaeger and Armin Arlert?" One of the men asked at last.

What is this, the Godfather? Eren mulled the question the man had asked him over. He didn't want to say no, in case it was, for some reason, the IRS or something important. But if he said yes and they were murderers...

"No, that's not us. But we get that a lot. I wonder if those guys look like us." Armin answered confidently for both of them. 

The man didn't reply to Armin, but instead looked down at two pictures he was holding in his hand. He looked back up at the pair, then back down, then back up, multiple times, like he was actually debating whether or not Armin's statement could be true.

"We should probably run." Armin whispered out of the corner of his mouth. 

Eren and Armin began to back up, not sure what was going on, but not exactly wanting to find out. They were obviously outnumbered, and whatever the occasion, they thought it best to run first, ask questions later. 

The well-dressed man in the front of the group drew his weapon as he saw the two younger men creeping slowly into the dark. It was a long, unfamiliar looking pistol, and looked to be high caliber and powerful. "Freeze, don't move." He said, pointing the weapon at the two.

Eren and Armin froze in place. They had never encountered this situation, and weren't sure what to do. Their adrenaline was suddenly in overdrive, hearts jumping into their throats. 

That's when Armin's lower lip started trembling. "Please, okay, we'll do anything you want, just please don't hurt us."

Eren looked at his friend, clenching his teeth, suddenly confused. "Don't cry, Armin!"

"I'm sorry Eren." Armin replied woefully, looking at the brunette, then back at the man holding the weapon. He put his hands up in the air. "Please don't shoot, I have a son! He's six years old. I'm all he has!" 

The group of men looked at each other, wearing a look of confusion similar to the one which had appeared on Eren's face. 

"You're lying." One man stated. 

"Please, it's the truth, you have to believe me!" Armin begged. "He's six years old, and he has a disability, he doesn't have any legs. He's helpless without me, he can't even feed himself, he just sits in the same place all day. Please, Ropter will die without me!" 

Eren blinked, processing the words that had just flown out of Armin's mouth with a slight shake of his head. Well, none of that was a lie. Their pet snake didn't have any legs, and generally did sit in the same place all day. He definetly couldn't feed himself and would truly die without them. 

The dark skinned men looked at each other, like they hadn't expected Armin's statement. They started to talk amongst themselves in hushed tones. 

"...part of the plan..." 

"...didn't know..." 

"..bring about very bad karma..." 

"...said nothing about this..." 

Armin smirked through his tears. Perfect. He had gotten them worked up just enough to be unsure about what they were doing. 

They hadn't turned away enough for the two younger men to make a run for it, so Armin continued his woeful weeping, and the men got unexpectedly gentle with him. Armin showed them those big, watery puppy dog eyes, and they were practically on their knees for his sob story. Eren had never thought about how treacherous Armin's charming wiles could be, but he was noticing now for the first time. He was absolutely terrifying, and so, so amazing. 

"It's okay. Don't cry. Just get on your knees and put your hands above your head. No one's going to get hurt and everything will be just fine if you just listen to us." The man in the front said, tucking his handgun back in his suit. Armin immediatly complied, dropping to his knees, his tears falling onto the pavement dramatically, while Eren, looking annoyed, got on his knees, and put his hands behind his back. 

Two men approached, holding syringes in their hands. "Don't struggle." The demanded. "Hands over your head." Eren refused to move his hands from behind his back.

One of the men grabbed Eren's arms roughly, yanking them from behind his back. "I said over your head!" 

He noticed all too late that Eren had slipped brass knuckles over his hands. The man's face got close to his Eren's fist, and Eren used his famous teeth-shattering hulk smash straight to the man's jaw. An ugly, sickening crack was heard and a spatter of blood followed. The hit sent the man to the ground, bashing his head on the pavement, his jaw shredded and blood flowing profusely from the four holes in his face. 

Armin's hand above his head was instantly home to a small blade, which he swung as if it was part of his body, slicing the man in front of him wide open at the chest, sending a shower of blood all over Eren. 

The two got to their feet, Armin wiping the crocodile tears off his face.

"Nice hulk smash." Armin commented. 

"Nice tears." Eren replied with a smirk.

They looked at the bleeding, bodies on the ground writhing in agony, and realizing they were the ones that had done that, they suddenly felt a bit sickened. They weren't soldiers, they weren't mentally prepared to take a life. 

A taller, ebony skinned man let out a short laugh as he looked at their faces. "You've never killed a man, have you? It's not as easy as it looks on the tv." He stood over the two men writhing around on the ground, and pulled one of the strange looking pistols out of his jacket. He held it above each of the men's heads, and fired a shot. The bullet completely exploded their skulls, leaving a mess of brains on the pavement, yet the gun was completely whisper silent. 

The leader of the men looked between Eren and Armin. "Come with us quietly and no one gets hurt. Not you, not your friends in their military research vessel. Just come with us for a few days, then everyone goes home happy." 

"That's obviously a lie. But why are they here? Why did they come for us? And what friends are they talking about?" The man had his pistol pointed at Armin's chest as they all stood frozen looking at each other. 

Suddenly, breaking the silence was the sound of gunfire. Mike came into the parking garage, skillfully shooting one of the men in the chest twice, the three other men jumping behind their car. 

"Run, now!" Mike instructed as he moved toward the assailants. 

On his order, Eren and Armin ran out of the parking garage and down the darkened street. 

Hange's apartment was not far from where they were, and they could easily run there. They ran down the street, then crossed over and ran up an alley, took a flight of stairs to a skybridge, and ran down another long, deserted street lit up by dim streetlights. 

They saw Hange and Mike's apartment right in the distance, and hurried for it. Safety. Hange would keep them safe. She'd never let anything happen to them. 

That's when out of seemingly nowhere, another black car came and hit both of them right in the side as they were bolting across the street. 

It wasn't a hard hit, but enough to knock them over and send them skittering a few feet, getting nasty road rash on their elbows, hands and faces as they tumbled and skidded up the road. 

"Shit, fuck me." Eren said, as he groaned, checking his body for any serious damage. Are you okay?" 

Eren looked at Armin, who was getting to his feet, his knees shaking. His hands were bleeding, and his forearms were scraped, along with a nasty red and black scrape up the side of his face. Eren had very similar injuries, scraped palms, arms and knees, and a scuff of red and black on his cheekbone and chin. 

"That was rude. What type of person just hits people with their car?" Armin murmerred, trying to gently brush himself off. The door to the car opened, and they noticed three more men that looked very similar to the group they had just seen in the parking lot inside.

"Ah. That type of person." 

The car was blocking their way to Hange's apartment. They could either turn back and try running off into the night, or they could fight. 

"Fight or run, Armin?" 

"We have to fight." Armin drew the knife from the cuff on his wrist. "If we win, we live. If we lose, we die." 

Eren gripped his brass knuckles tighter in his palms. "If we don't fight, we can't win." 


	20. I Used To Say I Want To Die Before I'm Old But Because Of You I Might Think Twice Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've spent the last few days blackout drunk on my vacation, so sorry if there are any errors!
> 
> There hasn't been much smut in the last few chapters, but it's right around the corner. If you need some to smut hold you over, check out my Matchmaker AU, I'm loving writing it.

Eren's eyebrows furrowed as he gripped his brass knuckles. It was hard to bend his arms with his road rash, but like hell he was going to let Armin fight alone.

They gripped their weapons, ready for a fight, but only one man stepped from the car. He raised a pistol and fired twice. The shots weren't loud, and when Eren and Armin looked down they realized they had been hit by some sort of strange glass capsule, which imbedded in their skin, then inserted a translucent liquid into their body.

"What the fuck is this?" Eren yelled, as he and Armin both yanked the strange projectile from their skin. Get out and fight me like a man!"

The man sighed, getting out of the car, the two other men following him. The man who had shot them squared off with Eren, and was significantly taller than him. 

He let Eren take a few swings at him, but easily dodged. Eren was generally quick and coordinated, but it was easy to tell that his motions were getting sluggish and he was off kilter. He connected a swing with the man's arm, the points on the knuckles digging into his flesh, making the man hiss. 

The man brought his knee up, hitting the brunette in the stomach, and dropping him to the ground.

"What did you do to me?" Eren asked groggily from his awkward position on the asphalt, seconds before his head hit the pavement and he passed out. 

Armin had been mimicking Eren's movements and was laying on the blacktop, his breathing labored. The second man went to pick him up, but Armin swung his knife, imbedding it in the man's throat. He quickly drug it across the expanse of the man's neck, slitting it wide open. 

The man dropped to the ground, gasping and gurgling for breath as he choked on his own blood. 

Armin did a backwards roll, standing to his feet. The other two men who had been arranging Eren in the car looked at him, their jaws dropping.

"Why aren't you unconscious yet?"

Armin had no idea. His thoughts were clear as crystal. 

He didn't know why Eren had been effected by whatever was in the capsule and he hadn't. All he knew was that he could save Eren. He had to. There were only two men left, he could do it.

He leapt at the man in front of him, doing a similar move as he had done to Eren earlier that day, wrapping his legs around his head and throwing him to the ground. 

This man was heavier than Eren, and wasn't playing with him. He drew a knife, and as soon as he was on the ground, he reached for Armin' ponytail, grabbing him and yanking his neck, attempting to stab him in the throat. The hair grab didn't phase Armin, and he turned and kicked the man hard in the face with the side of his foot.

The blonde jumped back up to his feet. The other man was behind him, reaching to wrap his hand around Armin's thin, swan-like throat. 

Armin stomped backward, breaking the man's knee then drove his elbow back with a snap into his sterum, hearing a sickening crack.

The man fell to his knees, and Armin grabbed the man's head, twisting it and snapping his neck.

The second and only man left was on his feet again, nose bleeding and jaw hanging open at the havoc Armin was wreaking. 

He came at Armin, swinging his knife at him in a wide, jerky fashion. Armin blocked sloppily, the blade catching him across both forearms, digging into his fresh road rash and making him hiss as fresh streams of blood flowed from the cuts.

"Stop fighting. Just give in!" The man yelled, as he fired another capsule at Armin, the strange cylinder digging into his throat.

Armin yanked the capsule out of his neck out again and threw it on the ground. The translucent liquid was on his fingers, and he licked some off his pointer finger of curiosity then laughed, actually laughed. 

He recognized the taste, and realized why it hadn't had any effect on him. 

It was GHB, or something similar. It was what Jean had given him. He had developed a tolerance for it. 

He continied laughing, his laugh turning into an evil sort of villian cackle the more he thought about it, his head thrown back and mouth wide open in hysteria 

The man looked over the petite blonde, covered in blood, laughing maniacally and was pretty put off. He then raised his pistol, firing three more capsules into him. "Just fucking--" 

His sentence was cut off as Armin leapt toward him, his small blade piercing into the man's chest. 

Armin twisted the blade, digging into the man's flesh and stomach, then pushing inside his body, his hand following the knife into his body in a creepy, eye-widening, otherworldly display. 

The man dropped back to the ground next to his two other dead comrades, and Armin was covered in blood. 

Armin laughed, again. "That's hilarious." He said, aloud at the realization. But, that did't matter. What mattered was he had saved Eren. He needed to get out of there before any more men showed up. 

He reached for the brunette, working to awkwardly pull him out of the car, where his long body was stretched across the back seat, unconcious. He was just a few steps from Hange's house, she'd know what yo do. 

"It's okay, Eren. I've got you." He whispered.

An electric shock suddenly travelled through Armin's whole body, making him completely immobile. His body flopped forward into the car on top of the Eren's sleeping form. Small bursts of electricity pulsed through his being, rocking and shaking him, making him completely numb. 

"You have a lot of energy." A voice from behind him said. He had been shot by an electric weapon of some sort, like a more potent tasar. The man's voice was familiar. It was the lead man from the parking garage, which made a shudder run through Armin's body. What happened to Mike?

"Not sure why the first supplement didn't work on you, but this should." He said, pulling a syringe out of his pocket and inserting it in the nape of Armin's neck. "This will help you get in a nice long nap. Don't worry. Your friend will be here with you."

Seconds later, he drifted off to sleep on top of Eren.

\--

Hange was filling up a syringe with some interesting looking orange colored liquid while she looked at the two "missionaries" tied to the chairs in her living room.

"This is so exciting." She said with a grin. "I've always wanted to have human trials before but no one would volunteer! So who is first?"

"What is it?" One of the men asked.

"Shhh, you'll see." She said with a smile. She jabbed the syringe full of neon orange liquid into the man's neck, and the fluid electrified his entire body, as he began screaming out in agony. "Make it stop make it stop!"

Hange shrugged. "Can't. It just has to ride itself out. You're doing great."

The man continued screaming as his entire body lit up, the orange liquid highlighting through his veins, visible through his skin.

Suddenly in an amazing, unbelievable display, his entire body exploded like something from a video game. 

His guts, brains, blood and intestines dripped off of Hange, the man who had previously been tied to him, and rained down around about a five foot radius, painting the ceiling, floor, tv, and couch, along with her favorite chair.

All thay was left was peices of the man's skeleton that slumped over in his chair.

"Damn, all over my favorite chair." Hange pouted. "Well, Okay then! You're next!" She said chipperly to the second man. "Maybe we'll have better results with this one. See, that's why we do tests, right?" She pulled out a syringe with neon green liquid in it.

"No wait, pleasepleaseplease, I'll tell you everything you want to know. Just please don't explode me." The man begged.

Hange smiled, putting the needle down. "Why are you looking for Eren and Armin?" 

The man sighed. "My name is Fiero. My family and I are all from the southern islands. One day, a man, Dr. Cooper, showed up and told us he needed our help to construct his laboratory. In repayment for helping build his lab under the sea, he'd give us something more valuable than money. 

We helped him construct his laboratory under the ocean near the southern islands, and he built the people from our islands a large bunker underground. He sent all the people from all the islands down there and told us that they would need to stay there for a long time, but they would be the key to earth's survival. There were these strange chambers he locked them in, so they could sleep for a long time. And a few dozen men, he took below into the sea, myself included, to help in the laboratory."

"He locked them in special chambers?" Hange asked shaking her head. "What's this doctor, his end game?"

"Dr. Cooper, he says the earth is a horrible place, so he is going to fix it."

"Fix it....how?" Hange asked concernedly. 

"By cleansing it with fire." 

Well that doesn't sound good. 

Hange's eyebrows furrowed. "So why are you here, looking for Armin and Eren?

"There's a small research ship, that's been watching the base for some months, looking to infiltrate or destroy it. 

Dr. Cooper wants the soldiers on it out of our hair, so he sent us here to pick up a couple kids that I guess are important to the men on the ship. 

Once we have them I guess the doctor's hoping they'll leave us alone long enough to carry out the plan."

Hange slammed the notebook shut and stood up. She put the gun to the man's head as she untied his ropes. "You've been very helpful. You'll take me to where the laboratory is. Now."

\--

Mike's cell phone rang as he was just turning the corner and dragging himself back to he and Hange's apartment.

"Do you have the kids?" Mike panted, asking the question as soon as he answered.

"What, no, I thought you were going to get them!" Hange yelled, worriedly into the phone.

"I saw them, and I told them to run." Mike's voice was soft and breathy as he put his hand over the wound the size of an orange in his stomach. He wasn't sure how large the exit wound was in his back, but he could feel a breeze going through his body. The phone slipped out of his hands as he dropped to his knees in the middle of the road. "Shit."

"Where are you, Mike? Mike!"

\--

Hange bolted outside, dragging Fiero, the last human test subject with her.

On the ground, a ways in the distance, she saw Mike face down, a pool of blood around him. Closer to her apartment were two long tire tracks, then blood smears as if two people had been hit by a car. There were multiple bodies scattered around the ground, and nearby, Eren and Armin's gym bags.

Hange shook her head as she tried to read the scene. "What the hell what the hell what the hell." Eren and Armin were hurt, and gone. And Mike better get up off his sorry ass this instant or there would be hell to pay.

She hurried over to his body. The exit wound in his back was about the size of a cantaloupe, and from the blood pool around him, it looked like there was no possible way there was any blood left in his body.

She flipped him over on his back. "Mike. Mike. Hey, Mike." She said, touching his face.

He was completely cold and white, but he was still breathing. The ebony skinned test subject with Hange looked like he was about to pass out at the breathing ghost.

"Fuck you, and this serum. I wish I was dead right now." Mike groaned. Hange looked at the large entrance wound, and was amazed that she could actually see completely through Mike to the ground on the other side.

" Well, I have to say, you've looked better, Mikey." Hange commented. "Glad to see you're still breathing. I'd be pissed if you died right now." Hange said, a hint of teasing in her voice.

"Not funny." He coughed up some blood. "Lets just get the fuck out of here and go find those goddamn kids so I can take a nap."

Hange looked at her test subject, who was white as a sheet. "Fiero, can you take us to the laboratory?"

He nodded "Yes. The coordinates are not far from my home, I remember how to find it ."

"Very good, then." Hange picked up Mike like she was carrying a toddler, wrapping his legs around her waist and putting his larger arms around her back, even if he couldn't hold on. 

He was pouring blood all over the front of her ivory sweater but she ignored it as she slowly walked a couple blocks to a small discreet building. She opened the door with a code, to show a row of lifeflight hospital helicoptors Hange would have been privy to for work. 

They climbed aboard one, Mike laying in the back, his wound healing at a snail's pace while he cursed Hange and every other person living.

Hange rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a baby. Erwin got shot five times, and you've been shot once and are being such an infant. Besides, You owe me 30 bucks. I told you those helicopter classes would come in handy."

"Fuck off Hange." He groaned irritably as he held his chest. "Lets just go save everyone, like we always do."

"Yes, sir." She smiled, as she and her dark skinned co-pilot put on headsets and took off. 


	21. Destiny Was Always Nicer In The Storybooks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Early chapter! I had this one written before my vacation so I thought I may as well crank it out since I'm done editing it now.
> 
> I can't believe we're so close to ending Fleet Week. Do I say that every update? Thanks so much for reading, I'm working on my other series Matchmakers right now as well, so check it out if you're in the mood!
> 
> Thank you so much for all the likes and comments, they really make it worth writing to know you're enjoying it.

It was a familiar, sweet voice he heard first. “Aaah. Angel. You feel so good. You’re taking me so well.”

It was Erwin. 

Armin’s eyes fluttered open slowly. He was back in their small apartment, in his bedroom, on his small, soft bed with Erwin. 

“Aah. Angel.” The larger blonde was moaning a soft, breathy moan from behind him. 

That's when Armin realized that Erwin was taking him from behind. 

The young blonde inhaled a gasp of air, wondering if he should be scared. This position always scared him and hurt. It always did.

He felt Erwin slide into him, gently brushing up against his prostate, his enormous cock stimulating Armin’s whole body. 

His elbows shook as one of Erwin’s large arms wrapped around his chest, the other holding him up, joining his shaky arms that were working on keeping him in doggy position. 

“You’re doing so, so good angel. You’re being so brave.” He cooed.

“Look at how wet he is.” A voice said from across the room. Armin jerked his head to the side, to see Eren bending Levi over his writing desk, pounding into him while he twisted one hand in the raven's soft hair, the other hand gripping his thin ivory hip. 

The two looked at Armin as Erwin bent over him, sliding in and out of him gently. Armin’s small cock hung heavily beneath him, dripping a steady stream of cum onto the bed underneath him as he let out short, breathy whimpers. 

“Can you see that, Levi?” Eren asked as Levi whimpered, his hips hitting the desk repeatedly as the brunette pounded into him. “Look at how good Commander is at pleasing our sweet little bird.”

Levi let out a low moan as he watched one of Erwin’s hands slide up Armin’s body, his large fingers wrapping around the smaller blonde’s thin neck.

Armin let out a frightened whimper as Erwin’s hand barely squeezed around his throat, and he slid into him, hitting his prostate. Armin gasped, Erwin blocking his airway, hitting his prostate. It felt...it felt…

“You’re so beautiful like this, angel.”

Armin opened his mouth slightly in a whimper. 

“You're perfect, my love. Give yourself to me. I’ll never hurt you.” 

Armin’s eyes slid closed as he felt Erwin’s grip tighten around his throat and he let everything go, trusting Erwin with his body.

"Please, trust me angel." 

It felt so fucking amazing. Erwin's grip tightened around Armin's neck, and hot pleasure unlike anything he had felt before shot through the small blonde's body.

“Harder, daddy.” Armin squeaked out.

A tremor shook Erwin’s body, and Armin felt it against his back. 

“What did he say?” Levi asked groggily.

"What, angel?" Erwin asked.

“Please daddy…harder. Choke me harder.“

Upon the clarification, Erwin growled, flipping Armin over, hungry crystal blue eyes meeting watering, glassy cobalt orbs.

“I’ll stop whenever you want me to.” He whispered. "Please, tap my arm if you don't like this, okay?" He slipped back into Armin, rougher, hitting Armin’s prostate head on, his hand slipping around Armin's throat.

He choked him, slowly increasing the pressure, as he threw the smaller man’s legs around his waist, pounding into him hard and deep. Armin’s soft moans stopped as his body arched his head lolled back in pleasure. 

He dug his fingernails into Erwin’s back, drawing blood as one of Erwin’s hands reached to gently run fingertips across Armin's soft, pink lips. 

Eren grabbed Levi, yanking him off the desk and over onto a chair, situating him in his lap so they could both watch the scene.

Armin’s ankles dug into Erwin’s lower back as the elder man's hand was bruisingly tight around the smaller man's throat. 

“Don’t be afraid.” the large blonde whispered, leaning up for a kiss on his perfect pink lips.

“Aah. He’s going to leave a bruise.” Eren sighed as he looked at how hard Erwin was squeezing Armin's lily white throat. He dug his teeth into the back of Levi’s neck as he bounced him up and down in his lap vigorously. 

“Fuck.” Levi moaned at the stimulation, and at the thought. He came first, at the thought of Erwin’s hand sized bruise around Armin’s neck. Streams of cum shot out onto his own chest and legs. 

“Mmmm.” Eren whispered, kissing the brunette behind the ear as he continued to bounce him, chasing his own orgasm, as Levi gripped onto Eren’s arms, back arching at the overstimulation.

“Ah...ah...Eren!” He moaned loudly as every thrust rocked his body. 

Erwin was snapping his hips into Armin hard, the smaller man's body arching and writhing underneath him. “Give in. Give yourself to me.” He whispered. “Don’t hide from me. I love you.”

Armin’s heels dug into Erwin’s back as he came instantly, his body arching and his nails tearing into the larger man’s shoulders as he shot ropes and ropes of white cum over the two of them, Erwin's hand still around his throat. 

Eren and Erwin came simultaneously inside their partners, the room filled with groans and sighs.

Erwin released Armin’s neck, kissing the bruising marks on his delicate throat, and kissing up to his perfect pink lips. 

“..So, so good, angel.” He cooed different praises to the unconscious blonde. 

The smaller man regained consciousness a few moments later, his hands reaching up into Erwin’s hair, while the larger blonde ran his hands down his lover's slender sides. 

“Did I do well, daddy?”

“You were so, so perfect, angel.”

Then Armin awoke. He could still feel Erwin's hands on his sides, his lips against his, burning like a fire. It had been an amazing, perfect, nearly real dream. But they were nowhere near home.

Eren lay next to him sleeping. His arms, face and hands were covered in red and black scrapes from the road rash, and looked absolutely terrible. 

Armin groggily remembered the events that had previously happened, the men at Hange’s house, getting hit by the car, fighting, killing people. 

“Eren, Ren. Wake up.” Armin said, shaking the brunette as gently as he could.

Eren rolled a little, then upon his friend’s shaking, opened his eyes. He cried out immediately from the surprising pain that his road rash offered him.

“Armin…” He said groggily. “Oh my god, your face…it's better.”

Eren ghosted his hand over Armin’s smooth skin, and Armin immediately felt guilty that his wounds had healed due to the serum, but Eren’s wouldn't. 

Eren, reading his mind, said, “I’m glad yours healed. And it’s okay. Maybe I’ll get some cool scars.” He smiled softly. 

Armin smiled in return, still feeling deep-seated guilt at the thought. “Where are we, Eren?”

The two looked around. 

They seemed to be in a small room. Three of the walls were metal, on one side the wall was glass, and on the opposite side of the glass was darkness. 

“What’s outside?” Eren asked. Armin moved a little, his range of movement very limited, as they were both ziptied to a post by their hands and ankles. 

“It's like…” Armin stared at his reflection, putting his forehead up against the glass, trying to see out. All he saw was darkness, and bubbles.

“I think….I think it's water.” He said, sickened. 

“Water?” Eren was confused. He tried to move over to see out the large exterior window but the zipties holding him to the pole wouldn't allow him move that far. 

“Remember...remember when there was the attack on the Trost, and there was the underwater base?”

“That was your speculation, Armin…”

“Okay, but what if there was an underwater base. And what if that Admiral, Nile, was so worked up about needing Erwin and Levi, because he wanted them to destroy it?”

“Okay..”

“And what if we're here…”

“...you're here to ensure they don’t do that. Very good, you’re quite astute,” a deep voice said, slowly creaking the door to the room open and entering their conversation. 

The man was beautiful, with midnight skin, wearing a silver suit. 

“Who are you?” Levi asked, narrowing his eyes. 

“ You may call me Dominic. Or Dom, for short.”

“Yeah, you do look like a dom for sure.” Armin mumbled. 

“But you don’t really announce that, generally.”

“I mean, I guess some people do? Pays to advertise.”

Eren shrugged, and the man looked completely confused about what they were actually talking about. 

“So why are we here?” Eren asked. 

“Your blonde friend already figured it out.” The captain smiled. “Maybe after this the doctor will make him his partner. You’re quite smart. The world could use more people like you.”

“You should let us go.”

“Go where? You’re 700 feet under the ocean, did you know that? This facility is the only thing keeping you alive right now. I provide your oxygen, your light, your heat. But, if you’d like to take a stroll outside, be my guest. I’ll show you out. But I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Eren and Armin both gulped. They were really, truly trapped. 

“You have nowhere to go. So here’s this. Since you’re stuck down here, I’ll untie you if you promise to stay in your room here and be good. If you’re bad, I’ll throw you out to be shark food.”

Armin nodded furiously. “We’ll be good. We’d never hurt anyone.”

“Really? That’s hard to believe, since you’re covered in blood.”

Armin looked down at his body. “I didn’t do this. My friend Mike did. Really, do we look like we’d be able to put up a fight?”

The ebony skinned man shrugged. “Perhaps not. Like I said. Behave, or I'll send you out into the ocean.”

He leaned forward with scissors and snipped the zip ties restraining Armin and Eren. They looked at each other, and a determined stare came over Eren’s face.

“If we don’t fight, we can’t win.” Armin murmured. 

Eren lunged for the man, wrapping his arms around the large man and throwing him to the ground. 

\--

Erwin and Levi were milling about on the deck of their small ship. The sun was rising slowly in the east, shooting morning rays of sunlight across the water.

Their two other crew members were up the three steps from the deck in the glass enclosed command center, where maps and all sorts of devices were out, feeding them information to help determine the next steps of their plan. 

Erwin held a large mug of coffee in his hand, and slid a delicate looking glass of tea into Levi’s. 

“Looks like its going to be a clear day.” Erwin murmered.

“Good.” Levi replied, rubbing the sleep out of his eye. The early morning sea breeze brought with it quite a chill, and Levi looked extra adorable in his puffy winter coat and stocking cap with a ball on it. 

Erwin pulled the ravenette into himself, hiding him inside his thick cardigan next to his chest. 

They didn’t say much, but Erwin held Levi against him as they slowly sipped their warm drinks. 

“Do you hear that?” Levi said after a few moments. 

Erwin nodded, shielding his eyes from the sun. He looked into his eyes and saw nothing for awhile, and then saw a single lifeflight helicopter zooming toward them. 

“A helicopter?” 

“All the way out here?”

The chopper came to the boat, and the wind it was generating was massive, blowing Erwin and Levi’s coats every which way, Levi holding onto his hat. They backed up as they watched in awe as the helicopter dangerously landed on the deck.

“What the fuck, Nile.” Levi whispered.

The door to the helicopter opened, but it wasn’t Nile that stepped out, it was Hange. 

“What? Hange?” They both said, as the onyx-skinned passenger got out after her. 

“No time to chat. They have the kids.”

“Who? What? What kids?” Levi asked confusedly. 

“Eren and Armin.”

"Who has Eren and Armin? What's going on? 

There was a thump, followed by a “fuck, be gentle" and Hange’s test subject, Fiero, dragged Mike’s body around the front if the helicopter into Erwn and Levi’s line of sight. 

His wound was healing slowly, it was still about the size of a quarter in the front and the size of a baseball in the back, but it was nice that you could almost not see through him anymore. 

“What happened to you?” Erwin asked Mike, who crankily gave him the middle finger as an answer. 

“Listen. Eren and Armin are being held hostage by the man running the base beneath you. He wanted you to stop interfering, so he came for them.”

“What? Is this a joke?” Erwin wasn't believing what he was hearing. He had left Eren and Armin safe at home. 

“That doesn’t make sense. Isn’t the point of having hostages to use them? Why wouldn’t they have told us yet?”

“That’s true.” Hange looked at Fiero. “How fast could your jet travel?” 

“At least 4x faster than the helicopter, and wouldn't have to refuel. They would have been back to the base about 6 hours ago.”

Hange nodded. 

“Maybe…” As if reading their mind, a strange box with wings shot out of the water and landed gracefully on the deck. It didn’t look ominous, but Erwin still dove down, covering Levi with his body. 

The box cracked open and Fiero approached it unafraid. “Ah. Here is your answer.”

He held up two dog tags that were inside, handing them to Erwin and Levi as they got up off the ground. They looked them over, even though they knew they were theirs as soon as they saw them, the ones that they had put around Eren and Armin's necks as they had promised with all their hearts to keep them safe. 

There was also a thin tablet that looked like an Ipad. 

They were wary, but put the tablet down on desk and pushed the on button, deciding if the man would have wanted to kill them, they would have already been dead. 

What appeared on the screen was a video feed, they were unable to tell if it was live or not. It was fixated on one room. There was text on the screen first, that said, “We have something that belongs to you. Stay away from our base and no one will get hurt. We’ll return them unharmed in a few days.”

Erwin was afraid of what he would see in the video, but knew he needed to watch. 

The feed was in a small room, with three metal walls, and one tall, outward facing glass wall, completely dark, showing the ocean. There was a post in the room, like it was some sort of confinement area. 

The room was covered in blood, which made him clench his teeth. Over in the corner of the frame there were two familiar people, a blonde, with a ponytail and a brunette, who somehow seemed to have grown taller in the last few months. 

They were hauling with them a large, lanky body, which was bleeding profusely from various stab wounds, no doubt inflicted by the scissors that now lay on the floor. 

The two were talking, although there was no audio. They were trying to shove the well dressed man's body in a large metal cabinet, which stood in the room, but they were having a rough go at it. 

The body was larger than them, and the head was slumped over Eren’s back as they threw it in the cabinet, trying to hold it there while they slammed the doors. 

The body kept trying to fall out, and at one point completely fell out of the cabinet even though the doors were shut, upon which the two frustrated young men picked the corpse up and shoved it back in the cabinet upside down. 

They finally got the doors shut, and as they slammed the doors, the entire cabinet came barreling forward, and would have crushed them, if not for Eren grabbing Armin and rolling them out of the way. 

The entire scene would have been the most hilarious silent movie ever if not for the perilous situation. 

Armin stood, then pulled Eren from the ground, gently, inspecting his body. 

“Look. Looklooklook.” Levi said, grabbing Erwin’s arm, who was glued to the screen. “Eren’s injured, look at his arms and face.” They looked him over as he slowly flexed his arms, bending his fingers gently, they noticed the burns up his arms and hands and face. 

“What is that?” Erwin asked, squinting at the small screen. 

“They were hit by a car, I think.” Hange said, biting her lip. Road rash.”

“The serum treated Armin though, he looks like a walking corpse covered in blood and guts like that though. I'm not sure I want to know what happened.”

Erwin was striding to the basement, having seen enough. 

“Where…” Levi asked, but a few seconds later he emerged, carrying diving equipment. 

“We’re going. Now.”

“What?” Hange said, a look of worry crossing her face. “You can’t.”

“We have to. If they’re wreaking havoc down there, they won’t last long. No matter how strong they are, no one’s going to put up with that. I won’t stand by and watch something happen to them. Not again.”

Levi bit his lower lip. This was a dumb idea. Not a plan. A knee jerk reaction that was going to get all of them killed. 

His eyes met with Erwin’s, who was holding the dog tags that had until recently, been around Eren and Armin’s necks. 

“This is a bad idea.” He said, flatly. “We have no idea what’s down there."

“I guess we’ll find out together.”

\--

The cabinet crashed to the ground, Eren barely rolling Armin out of the way. Armin grabbed Eren’s hands, gently pulling him to his feet. “Well, I guess that wasn’t a great idea.”

Eren shrugged. "It almost worked. A for effort." 

Eren was flexing his arms and hands, the burns from the road rash making his body stiff. 

“You okay?” Armin asked. 

“Yeah, maybe if we could find a first aid kit or something, I don’t want these to get infected. I’m full of little tiny smears of asphalt and it feels disgusting.” 

Armin nodded. “Yeah, of course.” His friend's road rash was disconcerting, and he didn't want to think about how much pain Eren was in as he smiled and shook it off.

There was banging, and they sound of people approaching, and Armin and Eren took off down the hallway. “What are we going to do, Eren?” 

“Well, get out of here, I suppose. They had to have a way out if here to come get us, didn’t they?”

Armin nodded. 

There was shouting in the hallway. “There they are! Don’t let them get away!” 

There weren’t many places to hide, the compound was made of glass, except for the confinement room they had been in. They could see straight through into the adjoining rooms, all across the entire structure to the walls surrounding it, where the dark water hugged the glass impossibly tight. 

They ran under an archway and turned a corner, and made their way down a long hallway, the motion lights going on with them as they ran.

"How big is this place?" Armin gaped, and Eren shook his head. 

"And how did they build it?" 

They stumbled into an enormous room, which made them both stop in their tracks. The laboratory had been one thing, but this was something else entirely. Huge, domed, and as large as a football stadium, they were in some sort of hangar, and the room was filled with aircrafts. The top of the room had large sliding bay doors which somehow opened and closed without letting water in in order for the planes to exit. 

“Wooow.” Armin breathed. 

There was a long row of missiles on the wall, and under the planes huge missiles as tall as them were attached. But that's not what made their jaws lock in terror. 

Stacked to the ceiling against one wall were rows and rows of enormous warheads, at least 15 feet in length and 5 feet wide. 

They were painted grey with white tips, and had nothing written on them. Hundreds of warheads, ready to be armed and fired. 

“What are these.” Eren breathed.

“Enough firepower to blow up the world.” Armin replied numbly.

Loud footsteps were behind them, and a man with glossy white hair entered the room. Armin and Eren swiveled to face him, and the four men that came with him.

“I see you found my armory. You’ve made quite a mess.” The man said. He was impeccably dressed in a suit and was clean, clean cut and handsome. Eren and Armin assumed this was the doctor the other men had been referring to. 

He leveled a weapon at the two, firing one loud shot that echoed through the hangar. Armin dove in front of Eren, wrapping his arms around him tightly. The bullet hit the blonde in the back, and he dropped to the ground with a gasp.

“How very considerate of you." He looked at Eren. "You have a good friend, not like it will matter much." He levelled the weapon at Eren for a second time. "I’ve had quite enough of your racket."

“What are you going to do with all these bombs?” the brunette asked, as he fell to the floor beside Armin, who was gasping for breath, the enormous hole in his back gaping open and pouring blood. He laid his hand over the wound, putting pressure on it as he held Armin against him. 

“Do you like the world you live in?” The doctor asked. 

"What? Yes, of course.” Eren responded, confused at the question.

“Well I don’t. Wars, lying, stealing, corruption. Dirty cops, corrupt leaders, laziness. This isn’t how humans were made to be. The human race is broken.”

Eren and Armin watched the man, not sure where his speech was going. 

“I have decided to reset the world. Take it back to the beginning. It's happened many times. God’s flood. The ice age. Now it will be by my hand. The world needs to be cleansed with fire in order to start again.”

“What?” Armin gasped. “You’re going to destroy the world because you don’t like it?”

The man tilted his head as he looked at Armin. "How are you talking right now? Oh well, no matter. I’ve saved a select few. The unevolved, unintelligent islanders. They will have a new beginning on the new world.”

“They world will be too irradiated to live on!” Eren exclaimed.

“Not with my weapons. They will cause destruction, yes. Destruction greater than any natural disasters, but not with radiation. with pure fire and wind and lighting. Like a storm inside a metal container. Does this frighten you?”

Eren and Armin looked at him, dumbfounded.

“What do you hope to achieve from all this?” Eren questioned.

“Me, nothing. Immortality. I will be the man who saved the world.” He smiled. “It’s almost time. Stick around, you’ll have front row seats.”

The man leveled his weapon and shot Eren in the knee, confining them both to the large hangar as he left and slammed the doors shut. 

“Eren.” Armin gasped. His wound was beginning to issue steam and heal, but Eren's knee was shredded and bleeding.

“Yeah buddy?” Eren gave him a smile as he yanked off his shirt and tied it around his knee, hoping to stop the blood flow.

“Eren, We have to destroy the warheads.” Armin gasped. 

“What? How?” 

“We blow up the base.”

“Armin, we’re in the base. Underwater.”

Armin swallowed deeply, then swallowed again as he formulated his thoughts, situating himself in Eren's arms. “Eren...maybe...maybe it's time. Maybe this was our destiny. Why we met Levi and Erwin, why we’re here. We were meant to save the world. Maybe It's our turn to be the heroes.”

Eren was silent for a long time, listening to the steam coming off of Armin's back, his ragged breathing, and looking at the blood filling up the tee-shirt wrapped around his knee. 

“Even if we die, Eren, at least we know the people we love will be safe. Levi, Erwin, they'll go on because of us. Mikasa, Hange, and Mike, and everyone else in the world. They'll be safe too."

Eren's breath caught in his throat as he thought about it. This would be it. Death. The end of everything. They'd never see Levi or Erwin again. But because of them, they'd be alright. They'd be safe. 

Eren slowly nodded, and Armin responded with a slow nod of his own. “Okay. Yeah. Lets do this. We can do this. ”

\--

The helicopter blades whirred and Erwin’s stomach flipped nervously, like it did before every jump.

He wasn’t necessarily afraid, but he wasn’t in love with the sky like Levi was. 

Levi stood next to him, the diving suit clinging to his skin, tank on his back and mask around his neck as he pulled his last flipper on, tucking his small, sharp knife into the elastic band around his thigh. 

He didn't know what to say. This may be the last time they saw each other, if he was being perfectly honest with himself. 

“I’m sorry.” Erwin mumbled. 

“Why is everyone so sorry all the time?” Levi asked, bouncing nervously from one foot to the other as Hange gained altitude. 

“This was a bad idea. Just a reaction. We should have thought through something better.”

A smirk crawled up Levi’s lips. “This is one of the first times in your life you’ve made a decision on the fly like this. Yeah. It’s dumb, and dangerous, and we might die. But we also might not. And I’d risk everything right now for Eren and Armin. And I know you would too.”

The helicopter leveled out and Hange looked over her shoulder at them. 

“Good luck, my friends. Bring our boys home. If anyone can do it, you can.”

Erwin swung the large door open, the wind whipping around them as they gazed down at the dark sea below. 

“Levi.”

“Yeah?” 

“I love you.” Erwin leaned in for a short kiss, Levi wrapping his arms around the large man as he pulled him close. 

"I love you too. We're going to make it back from this, with the rest of our family. So save the sentiment for then." He said, swallowing nervously. “We can do this. We have to be strong. So they can be.” 

Erwin nodded. 

They adjusted the masks over their heads and attached the breathing apparatuses to their mouths, checking everything one last time. They stood on the edge of the helicopter together, looking down at the black depths below. 

“One, two, three. Jump.” The fall felt like it was forever, flipping and falling toward the murky abyss, until their fins hit and they sliced flawlessly into the dark water.


	22. Quip To Black

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters already this week, and I'll have another one again for you this weekend! I love this flick so much and can't believe we're so close to the end. 
> 
> As usual, thanks for all your likes, subscriptions and comments. You are the best and it means the world to me.

Levi looked at his diving watch, which monitored the depth that they had descended. 

625 feet. 

They were so, so incredibly deep in the ocean. The water around them was ink black, the only light was coming from the bright lanterns attached to their waists and the glowing bracelets around their wrists. The white beams from their lanterns illuminated the water for about three feet around them, and then the blackness closed in like a dark, dangerous villain, millions of times larger and more powerful than them.

According to the coordinates, they were swimming in the correct direction. The lab should be directly below them, only about 75 feet away. 

75 feet sounded like nothing. It was the length of a tennis court. 1/4 the size of a football field. But down here, swimming through crushing, freezing blackness, the weight of the ocean making the water as thick as peanut butter, it felt like swimming 75 miles. 

On top of that, there was the ever-looming fact that they had no idea what they were going to do once they reached their destination. 

Levi loved the sky, but he hated the sea. This was terrifying to him. He had had a lot of frightening experiences in his life, but he'd have to say that this was the scariest thing that he had ever done. 

Erwin was only a few feet away from him, but he needed him closer. He knew creatures beyond his imagination were swimming in the darkness just beyond the light of his lantern beam. Humans didn't belong this deep in the ocean. He didn't want to be here. But, if he had to do this to get his family back, he would pull through. He would do whatever it took. For Eren. For Armin. He would be strong so they could be. 

Erwin looked over and gently grabbed the ravenette's arm, seeing the distressed face he was making inside his mask. 

The blonde gave him a thumbs up, and Levi responded with his own thumbs up. 

If I give a thumbs down, can we go back up? Levi asked in his head. 

The smaller man was thankful that his companion still was keeping a level head in all this. He was so strong and so brave, yet deep down inside, the fear that he harbored at the thought of something happening to Armin and Eren was what drove his urgency. And sometimes, that was the most powerful initiator of all.

We're coming for you. Hold on.

\--

"And that's the plan." Eren explained, and Armin nodded. 

"It's really, really good, Eren. I think it will work." Armin said, as he reached out and squeezed Eren's scraped up hands gently in his. "We need to hurry and get it done, we don't know when the doctor will be back, or how long your leg is going to hold out."

Eren looked down at his knee, which had been utterly destroyed by the gunshot wound a few minutes prior. 

The blood had seeped through the t-shirt that he had wrapped around the wound, and crimson was soaking up his thigh and down his calf, staining his jeans. 

He gave Armin a smile. "Don't worry about it. It's worse than it looks, really. It hardly hurts." They both knew it was a lie, but Eren was doing what he could to keep Armin's spirits up. 

Eren swallowed, then swallowed again, trying to push the thought of the imminent future out of his head. This was happening. They were doing this. They were about to die. 

And he wasn't ready. 

Armin helped Eren up gently, and they began to work around the warehouse, putting their plan into action. 

Eren hobbled carefully from aircraft to aircraft, cutting fuel lines with the bloody scissors in his hand. The fuel splashed across his bare chest and down his body and he shrugged. He was already drenched in sweat, blood, and who knew what else, things couldn't get much worse. 

Armin was rolling large, red barrels out of a nearby storage room, prying the caps off and watching the translucent yellow jet fuel gush across the ground. 

The fuel pooled around their ankles and seeped into their jeans, smelling up the room and covering the glass floor, until the hangar was inches deep in the liquid, and all the barrels were empty and fuel lines cut. 

When their work was finished, Eren slumped against one of the back walls, plopping down into the fuel on the ground with a splash, the glass freezing cold against his back. 

Armin moved to him. "We did it. You did really well, Eren." He said softly, as he gently ghosted his hand over Eren's knee, which he knew had to be hurting from the exertion. 

Eren stuck his tongue out at him playfully. "Like i was going to let you take all the credit for saving the world." 

Armin gently smiled as he pulled Eren's legs out straight, then pushed them apart. The brunette winced a bit at the movement, but it was worth it when Armin kneeled in between his knees. 

The brunette snaked his burned and bruised arms around the blonde's neck, his fingers pulling the hairtie out of the blonde's ponytail, releasing the champagne locks he loved so much over his shoulders. 

"You're so beautiful, Armin." Eren murmered. 

Armin smiled, as he leaned in, pressing his lips up against Eren's. 

Armin's lips moved against Eren's slowly at first, then getting rougher, more passionate. 

There were so many things that they needed to say to each other. They needed more time. They weren't ready to leave each other. Short, selfish statements, about their love and life, the things they had always thought but never said. 

But the words wouldn't come. Instead, Eren hungrily devoured Armin's soft, plump lips as the blonde slipped his tongue into his lover's mouth, exploring and enjoying the sweet taste of him, while Eren grasped Armin's golden hair that still smelled faintly of grapefruit.

The blonde clawed at the larger man's belt buckle, yanking his pants down a bit and pulling out his half hard erection. His warm hand around his member made Eren groan into the blonde's mouth as Armin worked his own pants down, his lips not leaving Eren's. 

"Aah, Armin." Eren murmured. The blonde scooted back a bit, and leaned down toward Eren's hips. The brunette fisted his hands into Armin's waves as he put his pink, delicate lips around his fingers first, wettening them, and then lowered his mouth around Eren's cock. 

Eren moaned Armin's name, watching the blonde as he fingered himself quickly. His tongue worked Eren's member, running over the sensitive head and teasing his slit, while bobbing up and down on him skillfully. 

Eren's back arched as he gasped, biting into his bottom lip and twisting his fingers into the flaxen hair at the nape of Armin's neck, fiery pleasure shooting through Armin's whole body. 

Armin's saliva dripped down Eren's dick as he sucked him passionately, his eyes closed as he hummed, enjoying the taste of his lover. 

He didn't stay around him for long, he was hurrying, wanting Eren inside him. He pulled off of him after a few moments, and gently situated himself in the brunette's lap, trying to put the least amount of pressure on him as possible, as he lowered down on his hard, wet member. 

Eren moaned and his fingers reached out, gripping Armin's bloodied shirt. He yanked it from his body, tossing it to the side, where it sank into the fuel on the floor. His fingers ran down Armin's chest, feeling his perfect, porcelain skin that he loved so much. 

Armin gently ran his hands down Eren's long, sunkissed chest, his thumb running the fox tattoo on his pectoral. They devoured each other's lips and necks, leaving bite and kiss marks roughly. 

Armin rolled his hips, bouncing up and down in Eren's lap, both of them issuing small moans and gasps from the sensation. 

They didn't speak, but both hoped the heat of their bodies said enough. There weren't words to express how they were feeling. All it came down to was 'I'm not ready to be without you.' 

Eren's fingers tightened in Armin's hair. "Min." He whispered, sinking his teeth into his lover's neck. "I love you. I love you so fucking much." 

Armin nodded, as he leaned forward, rolling his sweaty forhead against the brunette's. "I love you more than anything, Ren." 

They squeezed their eyes closed, letting silence fall in between them, while Armin wrapped his hands gently around the sides of Eren's throat, working his hips, pleasuring them both. 

They pushed back all the rest of the things they wanted to say, trying to focus on their objective. "I wish..." Floated from Eren's mouth, and that was all, but it was like Armin understood the sentiment, even though Eren was unable to finish the thought. 

Armin nodded, his chin shaking as he leaned in for another hungry kiss, his hands gripping Eren's brunette locks in his hands tightly, not wanting to ever let go. 

\--

A few minutes later, the well-dressed doctor, along with four of his associates, came down the hallway toward the hanger. 

He was ready to begin his plan, to launch the warheads and begin the end of the world. The doors of the hanger had been closed, since he had locked Armin and Eren in there, but he pushed them open, and the group was greeted by the smell of jet fuel. 

The translucent-yellow liquid rushed out of the room and gathered around their feet. The fuel was inches deep, and dozens of large red barrels that had been stored in an adjacent room had been pulled out and tipped over, spilling the thousands of gallons of fuel onto the floor. 

The fuel gathered around all of the planes, missiles, and assorted weapons and items in the large hangar. The warheads themselves had been wired with some sort of plastic explosive, and rigged with a timer bomb that Eren knew how to set up from watching too much TV. 

"What are you doing?" The doctor yelled. 

Armin and Eren were slumped against a far glass wall, Armin holding a burning cigarette in one hand. 

Armin inhaled a breath of smoke, then turned Eren's head toward him. Armin took Eren's chin, and breathed the smoke into his mouth, and Eren blew it out his nose in a talented display. Eren hummed with a smile as Armin handed the smoke to him. 

"Put that cigarette out! You'll kill us all!" The doctor cried again. 

Multiple guns pointed at Eren and Armin, but the doctor yelled at his associates, "Stop it! He'll drop it if you do that. They're just messing around." 

He looked back at they two men. "If you drop that, you know you'll die too. What do you want? Let's talk about this." He said, with his hands out in front of him like he was trying to soothe a wild animal. 

It would have been the perfect time for some sort of lecture about saving the world, but Eren didn't have much left in him. 

"I just want to be at home with my family...." He said, quietly, looking at how much blood had seeped into his pant leg.

"After this, you can make a new family. You can make a new life, and a new home, everything will be reset in the New World." The doctor said hurriedly.

"...But If I can't be with my family," Eren continued, "Then I'll at least keep them safe." 

"What are you talking about? Hey!" 

Eren did the first thing that came to mind. He grabbed Armin and put his lips on his one last time. "I love you." He said grabbing Armin's hair in his hand. "I love you more than anything in the world. You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

Armin pressed his forehead against Eren's. "I love you so much, Ren." He responded in a whisper, a tear sliding down his face. 

Armin sank his head onto Eren's chest, lacing the brunette's fingers with his own. They both looked up at the doctor, who was looking wide-eyed back at them. Eren took one last long drag of the cigarette, then sighed, looking the silver haired man dead in the eye. 

Then, he flicked the cigarette from between his fingers carelessly. 

"See you in hell, motherfucker."

Everything moved in slow motion from that moment on. There was yelling and shouting from the doctor and his associates, as multiple men tried to dive forward and catch the falling cigarette butt. There was mass chaos for what seemed like ages, even though it was only a few seconds. 

The cigarette hit the fuel, and instantly, the entire room lit up into a blazing, firey inferno, the floor turning into lava. 

The smell of burning metal, tires, plastic and flesh filled the air, along with horrendous screams. Armin squeezed Eren, trying to shield him from the flames as much as he could. 

Then it began. 

The floors and walls began to spider and crack because of the change in temperature. The first plane exploded, with a loud, rocketing boom and another firey heat wave, followed by a second explosion, then a third. 

Their ears rang, and everything around them burned, screams filled the air, along with various undeterminable sounds: gunfire, explosions, and the sickening sound of glass slowly cracking. 

"Don't be afraid. Look at me. Look at me." Eren said, his words barely audible over the loud noises and the ringing in their ears. He gently held Armin's sweating face, their eyes locked on each other. He kissed the blonde's face over and over again, as Armin held him, and he could feel the fire behind the blonde, and see the ends of his hair catching flame.

Another explosion happened, and that's when the lights flickered on and off for a moment, and then went completely out, and the room was lit only by the blaze and reoccuring explosions.

Armin's hands fisted in Eren's shirt. "Don't let go, Eren. No matter what, please, don't let me go." 

Armin yanked Eren in for one last long, tearful kiss, their hands grasping at each other's clothes and hair and bodies, desparate, wanting, and needing more. More time. More of each other. More of the right words to say. 

Each other's faces were the last thing they both saw, lit up by the flames and explosions. 

Seconds later, their glass sanctuary creaked then shattered, and millions of gallons of dark, freezing ocean water gushed in, rushing down the hallways, filling the laboratory, and quenching the flames in the hangar as easily as if they were a candle. The sheer magnitude and weight of the water swept in and crushed and destroyed everything. 

For a moment there was screaming, yelling and explosions, but they were quickly quelled as the water swallowed them up. 

"Armin, don't let go! Don't let me go," Was the last thing Eren yelled, feeling Armin's fingers closing around his own. 

The water swept in like a storm, fast, dark and absolutely terrifying. Eren's hand was wrenched from Armin's and they were torn away from each other, the water filling up everything around them. 

They were swept out into the freezing, black expanse of the deep, dark ocean. 


	23. 300 Million Miles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Only two more chapters after this, I can't believe it. Thank you guys for sticking with the story this long, I hope you've enjoyed it.

Out of the darkness, suddenly there was bright, orange light. 

Levi gasped, a bubble slowly rising that would have been "Is that fire" except they were underwater and unable to speak.

He and Erwin made eye contact, and then as quickly as possible swam toward the blaze, which was so bright it was illuminating the jet black water around them, giving light to ugly, enormous sea creatures, almost making Levi wish that they were still in the dark. 

Suddenly, from the same place as the fire, came an explosion, followed by another, and another. They were close enough now to see the laboratory and the fiery, exploding glass.

Then all at once, the laboratory collapsed, and sea water rushed in, bodies and planes and pieces of equipment were sucked out into the sea, and the fire was extinguished, plunging the sea into nearly blackness, except for isolated explosions, which looked similar to coals simmering in a dying fire. 

\--

Armin curled up in a tight ball. The water around him was freezing, and so, so dark. Somewhere around him were muted explosions, the rest of the laboratory falling to pieces as the contents of the base continued to explode. 

He wondered how long he could hold his breath for. Two minutes? Five minutes, maybe? He squeezed his eyes closed. It was nearly as dark with his eyes open as it was closed, however with his eyes open, the explosions from the laboratory created silhouettes of the hideous creatures swimming all around him. 

He felt something wrap around his ankle, wet and slimy, then slowly pass on, as if just swimming by. 

So cold. So dark. Drowning wasnt how he wanted to die. His back was completely charred and burned from protecting Eren, his hair completely singed up to the back of his neck. It had been worth it. It would be been better to die by drowning than in a fire...maybe. He'd never done either, but he'd imagine so, at least. 

He was filled with so much fear now, that nothing really mattered. He shouldn't have let go of Eren's hand. He shouldn't have let Levi and Erwin go without spending more time with them. 

He shouldn't have spent so much of his life being a coward and feeling sorry for himself. God, he regretted so many things. Too many. 

But not this. Although James Bond would have found some much more suave way to save the world and survived...this was the right thing to do. Everyone in the world would just go on, not knowing what imminent danger their lives had been in. But he was totally alright with that. The point is that they would go on.

\--

The blast from the collapsing glass structure blew Erwin and Levi apart, tumbling away from each other in the water. 

Levi climbed through the blackness, looking for Erwin. Debris from the lab were floating everywhere. Bodies. Wreckage. There was blood. And then, he saw something. No. No way. 

Floating just at the edge of his lamplight was a brunette. He was surrouneded by a cloud of crimson, which appeared to be coming from the bad wound on his knee.

Levi clawed his way through the water to him, latching himself around Eren's waist. 

His eyes were already open, and Levi shook him, then shook him harder, not like it was much of a force in the jello-like water. 

The brunette's eyes blinked, then swivelled to Levi, focusing in. He suddenly squinted, noticing how bright the light was in the darkness. His mouth moved, saying the name "Levi", before coughing up a large bubble. 

Levi laughed in happiness, as he yanked off his breathing apparatus and stuffed it into Eren's mouth. Eren was shocked for a moment before he grabbed onto it, breathing in the oxygen as his other hand grabbed onto Levi's body with an iron grip. 

Erwin came into sight and saw the two and blinked, swimming closer to make sure he was seeing correctly. Levi nodded, as if to confirm the question in his mind, then Erwin backed away from them. That only meant one thing. He needed to find Armin. 

Levi took Eren in his arms. He didnt have much time, looking at the brunette's wound, so he swam as hard as he could toward the surface. 

\-- 

Armin wasn't sure if he was sinking down or floating up, but he was out of breath now, so it didn't exactly matter. This was it, he may as well give in. 

He sucked in his first gulp of salt water, then coughed, unable to clear his throat as he breathed in more water. 

This is what it feels like. To die. He tucked his head into his knees and cried. 

God, please let it be quick. 

The salt water burned his mouth and his throat as he gasped for air, only sucking in more of the frigid, salty liquid. 

He squeezed his knees to his chest tighter. 'I hope that Eren didn't suffer.' He thought to himself. 'Maybe he got knocked out by the blast. He would have just gone without feeling it. I hope so.' 

He felt the water moving into his lungs, and he coughed again, inhaling more water. He squeezed his eyes closed. Please, just let it be over soon.

Suddenly he felt something grab the nape of his neck and yank his head back forcefully. 

He looked up, squinting, as bright light was suddenly in front of his eyes. Erwin was in front of him. 

The large blonde put his cold lips onto the drowning man's, driving his knee into Armin's stomach roughly, causing the smaller man to spew water out of his mouth, while Erwin sucked it in and spat it out to the side. 

Their mouths met again, Erwin breathing salty-tasting oxygen into Armin's mouth. Erwin kneed him in the gut once again, and Armin coughed, the water exiting his lungs. 

Erwin then stuffed the breathing apparatus into the smaller man's mouth, and Armin gasped, feeling oxygen flooding through his veins. 

This wasn't real. He'd already died. There was no way Erwin was here. There was 300 million miles of water in the ocean. There was no way, that through all of that...Erwin had found him. 

The diver yanked the nearly drowned man to his chest, holding him impossibly close while Armin sucked down the oxygen, remembering what it felt like to actually breathe. 

Armin held around Erwin's neck gently as the larger man kicked away from the depths, holding his lover tightly in his arms. 

\--

They emerged from the water seemingly hours later. 

They were right next to a boat, where Hange and Mike were leaning over the side, looking for them. 

It was midday, how many days had he and Eren been in the laboratory? 

How many hours had it taken Levi and Erwin to get to them, and he and Erwin to get back up to the surface? 

He swore it was an eternity, with Erwin grasping him tightly, passing the breathing apparatus between them. His grip was almost painful around Armin's thin waist as he held him tightly, as if he was certain if he let go he would disappear. 

He needed to make sure his small lover was safe and alright.

Hange squeaked as they emerged. She grabbed Armin, yanking him into the boat. 

She turned him around quickly, looking him over, leaning in to peek at his back wounds. His entire back from his shoulders to his hips was wide open and healing, the flesh changing from black to pink, and all of his hair, except for a few loose strands in the front had been burned short up to the back of his scalp, and top of his spine and bottom of his skull were visible through his skin.

"Ooh, honey, how interesting! You can see your bones!" She exclaimed, looking his burn over. "Can I take some pictures?"

Armin nodded, issuing a small laugh out his nose. 

Erwin climbed up the ladder and into the boat, immediatly collapsing onto the ground after the grueling swim. 

"Where is Levi?" Hange asked Erwin as she was busy poking the charred flesh, taking pictures with her smartphone. 

"What?" Erwin asked, sitting up alarmed. "He was with Eren. They left before us. They should be back by now, Levi's a much better swimmer than I, and Eren was badly wounded."

Hange shook her head. "We haven't seen them, and we've been watching very closely. Could they have gotten lost?" 

"No, he had the coordinates in his watch, it would have brought him back to the correct place like it did us." 

Erwin stood up on wobbly legs, stripping off his diving tank and dropping it to the ground with a clank. 

He went to the side of the boat to gaze into the dark choppy water, which was breaking roughly on the side of the boat.

"Where are you." Erwin whispered, as Armin broke away from Hange, crawling into Erwin's arms.

"They'll be here." Armin whispered. "They have to be." 

\--

They were getting close. Light was penetrating the water, and sea life was all around them. They were maybe seventy or so feet from the surface, Levi guesstimated, without checking his diving watch. 

Eren was resting his head on the ravenette's shoulder, barely breathing. Levi tried to keep the breathing apparatus in the taller man's mouth as much as possible, only pulling it off when he had to take a breath. 

"Almost home, love. We'll be safe. We'll be okay. Hange will fix you. " 

Eren's blood was clouding the water, spreading from his knee and creating a murky maroon fog around them. 

"Hold on, honey. Hold on for us." 

Levi maneuvered them through the water. They were fine. They would make it. They were going to make it. 

Suddenly, there was an all too familiar shape above then. 

It was pointed and wide, and the shadow was at least 15 feet long as it reflected down across the two men. 

It made Levi freeze and his blood run cold. 

Shark. 

Talk about adding insult to injury. After all this. Now of course, there has to be a shark. 

Levi continued swimming, holding Eren, who was too passed out to even notice the imminent danger looming so close to them. 'Please don't see me, mister shark. It's been a rough day.' Levi prayed, clutching Eren.

The shark ignored Levi's plea as he came closer and began circling them, drinking in the scent of Eren's blood. He was at least three times the size of the small diver, making Levi feel like an absolute speck and completely helpless. He wondered if the shark could sense his fear.

It was like he was watching them as he circled, enjoying the fear he was striking in the smaller man's heart as he held onto his lover for dear life. 

Then the beast attacked. 

It dove for the two men, and Levi turned just in time for the shark's enormous, concave teeth to chomp down on their scuba tank. 

Air hissed out of it as the oxygen and gasses were wasted into the water. Levi unbuckled all the fastners holding his tank onto his back as quickly as possible, and let it float away into the water to avoid them getting thrown around by the terrifying beast.

The shark released the tank from his mouth, than attacked it again, and Levi gulped, watching as its huge jaws shredded the machine, thinking that could have been them. 

Levi held Eren tightly as he kicked away from the shark, lighter without the tank, but now they had no air. 

They were so close to the surface.

Levi kicked for all he was worth, holding the dead weight that was Eren, who seemed to have completely lost consciousness. 

He could practically see the top of the water from where they were. So close. So fucking close, Eren. 

He kicked and kicked, taking them up as far as he could. It wasnt't long before he was out of breath. Eren was passed out on him, turning a strange color as his head nestled into his lover's neck. 

This is it. We're out of time. I can't do it. I can't save you.

He put his lips to Eren's neck, in a motion that said "I'm sorry" then squeezed him in and held him tight. At least we didn't have to die alone. 

He curled his knees into his chest, closing his eyes and cradling Eren in his small arms. 

I'm sorry. I failed you. I love you. 

Suddenly, a shadow crossed over them again and Levi's eyes shot open in fear. Another shark? 

Moments later, a giant blonde man was next to them, wrapping his bulky arms around both of them, yanking them hurriedly toward the surface. 

It only took a few kicks of his long, strong legs, and all of them had shot through the top of the water a few yards from the boat, coughing and spewing salt water from their lungs. 

"Erwin?" Levi asked, crackily.

"No." the blonde said, as he towed the two men to the boat. "It's Mike, and for fuck's sake, I swear I have to do everything around here. Where would you be without me?"

"Weren't you shot?" 

"Yeah. I'm over it." The blonde said gruffly, as held the two in his arms and swam to the side of the boat. They were greeted by Erwin, Armin and Hange, who hurriedly pulled them aboard. 

Eren wasn't breathing, and blood had ceased coming from his wound. 

Mike laid him out flat on the deck and began doing chest compressions, listening to his chest, and hearing he didn't have a heartbeat. 

"Eren. Eren." Levi clenched his teeth together as he fell down on his knees beside the unresponsive brunette, who was covered in burns, blood and scrapes.

Armin crawled over to Eren's opposite side and picked up one of his limp hands, lacing their fingers together. "Come back to us." He sank his head into the brunette's chest. 

Erwin was gently holding Eren's head, caressing his wet chestnut locks and the side of his burned face with his thumb. "Please, Eren." 

Hange emerged from the small upper deck, and without warning, leaned over Erwin and plunged a needle onto Eren's neck, inserting a lime green liquid.

Nothing happened, and then suddenly, Eren gasped, sitting up and vomiting what seemed like gallons of water out of his lungs into Mike's lap. 

He looked around at everyone, his eyes focusing in on Levi, then Erwin and Armin. "This isn't real." He whispered. 

Levi fisted his hands in Eren's hair as he sat beside him, slamming his lips against his. "God, Eren." He whispered. He was freezing cold and shaking, and he sucked Eren's bottom lip between his teeth. "I thought we'd lost you."

Armin scooted up from the opposite side, kissing down the brunette's neck, while Erwin attacked Eren from the back, nibbling down his scraped, sunkissed skin. "You're still so perfect, kitten." He said, running his tongue over his dreamcatcher tattoo.

Eren moaned, feeling his lovers touching him. 

"Is this real enough for you, Ren?" Armin asked, running his fingers over Eren's slightly stubbled chin, and turning his head, stealing his lips away from Levi's and taking Eren's lips on his own. Eren nipped and sucked on Armin's lips, while Levi assaulted his neck, and Erwin gently touched and kissed his back. 

Hange smiled, and laughed a little. "Alright, you all, save it for the bedroom. Eren, how are you feeling?" 

"Everything hurts." He said scratchily. 

"Why does that hurt? Didn't you give him the serum?" Erwin asked. 

Hange shook her head. "We don't have any more, remember? Unfortunately, Eren is going to have to heal and be just like a normal person." 

The three of them gasped, and Eren rolled his eyes. "Great. Are you going to all, like, wrap me in bubble wrap from here on out?" 

Levi and Armin nodded simultaneously. 

"What did you give him, then?" Erwin inquired. 

Hange offered a devilish smile. "Red Bull....For your mind." She whispered the last half of the sentence. 

"Well, that sounds like a terrible idea." Levi murmured as he ran his tongue up Eren's arm, he and Armin still kissing and touching him, while Erwin had switched to gently massaging his back. 

Mike moved to the injured brunette and tearing him away from his lovers, he picked him up off the hard deck. Erwin pulled Levi and Armin into a joyful hug while Hange ushered all of them to the small infirmiry. 

"Don't worry handsome." She said to Eren, booping him on the nose. "We're going to get you all fixed up."

\--

The monitor in the hospital beeped consistantly. The view of York out the window was comforting, the feeling of home and being back on dry land was something Eren didn't think he'd ever appreciate as much as he did in that moment. 

The brunette's hands, arms, and the bottom of his chin were taped in bandages, covering the road rash, and his injured leg was elevated and wrapped in a cast. 

Luckily his knee wasn't too badly damaged, but they did have to do surgery to reconstruct the joint. He now had three exciting pins in his kneecap that would set off the metal detector at the airport. 

He ran the very tips of his fingers that were visible in his arm cast clumsily through the sleeping ravenette's hair, who was tucked into the hospital bed next to him. He was tiny and curled up in a ball, and the nurses frowned whenever they saw his tuft of ink-black hair sticking out from under the covers, but he refused to leave Eren's side. 

Eren smiled. He was here. With his family. Home. 

The door to his hospital room burst open, and Armin tumbled in, followed by Erwin. 

They were wearing black and white tee shirts that had the words "Soon" and "Eren" pressed on them(the other part of the "Get Well Soon Eren" team were Mike and Hange, but since they hardly all visited at the same time, they all just ended up wearing shirts with random words on them.) 

Armin was carrying a huge stuffed giraffe, which was as tall and wide as himself, and Erwin had an abundance of balloons, at least three dozen of them, which took up the entire ceiling of the hospital room, and floated out into the hallway.

"Eren! How are you feeling?" Armin asked, even though he had only been gone about 20 minutes. 

"Good." Eren smiled. "How was your trip to the gift shop? You guys really don't have to buy me stuff every day." He giggled, looking around the room at the overabundance of flowers, gift baskets, balloons, stuffed animals, and everything else filling up the counters and floor space. 

"But we love you!" Armin said, then he stopped, realizing that he had actually never heard those words from Erwin or Levi before. "I mean..." He stuttered. The room got awkwardly quiet as they all recognized the misstep. 

Erwin smiled softly. "It's true. I've known it for a long time," He said, turning Armin's head toward him, "Armin, I knew I was in love with you after the first night I spent with you. I just never wanted to admit it. But, Eren, I didn't know how much I cared for you until much later, when I started to get to know you better. I love you both, so much, and I love you together, and I love seeing you both with Levi as well. And Levi, I've loved you all my life. I love you all, so, so much." 

Armin smiled. "I feel the same way. About you, and Eren, and Levi. I love you all so much. I never thought anything like this would ever happen to me, but this is the most amazing thing in the world, better than I could have ever hoped or dreamed of. 

Eren was practically beaming. "Me too. I love you both so much. So, so much. And Levi, I love you too. You're so amazing, and fierce, and beautiful. Levi. Hey. Levi? Why aren't you saying anything?" 

Eren pulled back the covers. "Oh, he's asleep." He smiled sweetly, showing his other two lovers, who made their way over to the side of the bed to look at the tiny, curled up ravenette. 

All three of them gently ran their hands over the sleeping man. "He's probably still beat from dragging my unconscious ass up from the bottom of the ocean and fighting with a shark." 

"He's terrified of the ocean too." Erwin hummed.

Eren leaned in and kissed Levi on the temple. "Thank you, Levi. I love you. You're so brave. And so, so amazing." 

Armin gently ran his fingers through Levi's short, black hair, watching him doze. 

"I love you, Levi." Erwin cooed. 

"We all love you." Armin smiled softly, kissing Levi softly in the crook of his neck. 

"I love you too." He murmured sleepily.


	24. The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're so close to the grand finale, everyone. 
> 
> Thank you so much for your likes and comments, knowing you are enjoying Fleet Week has made it worth writing.

Four months later

"That's everything." Armin said, closing up the last cardboard box filled with their belongings. He looked around the apartment, which was bare, with boxes stacked everywhere, and most of the furniture pulled out in the living room. 

"I can't believe we're finally moving." Eren said from the place where he had stretched out on the couch. The doctor had assured him that his injuries were fully healed, but his lovers still were hesitant to let him move, breathe, walk or pick stuff up, in the event of another injury. 

"Me neither. But the neighbors are probably glad our lease is up and they'll be able to get some sleep at night." Armin grinned, crawling on the couch next to the brunette. "A lot happened to us in this little apartment. I'll miss it." Armin laid a soft kiss across his lover's lips, which gradually turned deeper, as the blonde worked to straddle the brunette at the waist, kissing down his chest and neck. 

Eren's body was back in perfect condition except for a few burn scars, a small white line on his jaw, and a light brown discoloration on his forearm. 

The blemishes hadn't ruined his modeling career, howerer, quite the opposite, it had thrust him into the spotlight even more with a story headed up by Nile about a terrible car accident. 

Everyone loves those types of stories. 

Armin's hair was short again, at about the chin length that it had been before. It seemed to be growing back slower, but he didn't mind. It all had gotten burned off protecting Eren, and was worth it. He didn't have any scars because of the serum, but this was one thing he could remember the whole incident by. 

Eren ran his fingers through Armin's short hair as he pulled him in for a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." He smiled. "So, we still don't know where we're moving after this...thought I'd bring that up...?" 

Eren shrugged. "Levi and Erwin said they were going to find us a spot. I don't know why they wanted to, it was a weird request, but they should be here later today. Then we'll know."

Armin smiled softly. "It's just weird being all packed up and not knowing where we're going yet I suppose. But... if they'll be here later..." He said, touching the buttons on Eren's shirt with a smirk, "Then we still have time for this, don't we?"

\--

Erwin and Levi entered the apartment a half hour later, unlocking the door with the spare key. They were greeted by wanton moans, and immediatly in front of them, stretched out on the couch were their lovers. 

Armin was pinned underneath Eren and had his head thrown back, tears running down his face. Eren had his lips latched onto the blonde's neck, sucking dark red kiss marks, one of Armin's legs around his waist, the other thrown over his shoulder. The brunette was pistoning his hips roughly, slamming into his lover, whose fingernails were tearing down his caramel skin, making angry red trails across his back and shoulders. 

"Ren, Aaah! Ren!"

Eren jerked his hips, slamming into Armin's prostate, as he had one hand twisted in the smaller man's blonde locks, the other gripping his slender, tattoed hip. 

"Mmm, Min, fuck, you're amazing." He moaned, as he bit down the smaller man's neck and chest. 

He flipped the blonde over, so he was laying completely flat on the couch. Eren spread his legs, laying on top of him, and wrapped one arm around his chest, his other hand running down his side as he slid back in to Armin's dripping wet hole and snapped his hips expertly, slamming into the blonde's backside. 

Armin was letting out breathy, high pitched moans, as he moved back into Eren, his hands reaching forward to fist in the pillow of the couch as he dug his face into it to muffle his cries.

Eren tore the pillow away from him. "No, Min," he scolded, pounding him even rougher. "I want to hear your voice." 

"More, aah, Ren, god...More!" He screamed, and Eren rode him harder and faster, squeezing his hip until he was sure it'd leave a mark. "Ren! Mmm!" 

"Yeah, love?" Eren asked, biting into Armin's nape with a smile. "Do you like it when I fuck you like this?" 

"Aah, AAh, yes! You're amazing, Ren. I'm...ahh...Ren!" Eren flipped Armin over quickly and grabbed the blonde's dripping cock at the warning, pumping it once, and putting his lips over it. 

Armin came immediatly into Eren's mouth, streams of warm cum shooting down the brunette's throat as he moaned and enjoyed it. 

Eren finished drinking in Armin's warm, sweet essence, and while the blonde was still panting, open-mouthed and eyes closed from his release. 

Eren straightened up and jerked himself a few times, cumming across his lover's face and neck, getting his cum all over those perfect lips, in his mouth, and on his nose, cheeks and chin. 

Both panting, Eren collapsed on the couch on top of the blonde.

Erwin and Levi were still standing in the doorway. Thankfully they had shut the door behind them, as they gazed starry-eyed at their lovers. 

The taller blonde was kissing the small ravenette softly behind the ear as they stood near the door, running his hands under his shirt as they watched the show. 

"Fuck. That's something I'll never get tired of seeing." Levi moaned. 

Erwin nodded, digging his face into Levi's soft hair. "I agree." He replied with a smile. 

Armin motioned for their guests, who approached like they were in a trance. Eren was wiping his cum off Armin's face with his shirt, while Erwin and Levi sat down on the nearby footrest. 

"You're so beautiful. Both of you. You're amazing." Erwin murmered, and they both smiled, as the older men watched them cuddle on the couch for awhile, purpously displaying their toned, naked bodies for the older men. 

"Well, did you find a new home for Eren and I?" Armin asked after a bit as he reached out, putting his hand on Erwin's knee, while Levi ran his finger's through Eren's sweaty hair. 

Levi held a single gold key up and smiled. "Come and see."

\--

The two cleaned up and got dressed, throwing on shorts, tank tops and sunglasses, as the summer weather was back to being atrociously hot. 

Levi was dressed in skinny jeans and a perfect white tee, a black cardigan thrown over one shoulder, and Erwin was dressed in a blue tee shirt and white shorts, like he belonged to a yachet club. (He would, too.)

They left the small, packed up apartment and went down the stairs, following the men to the parking lot, where two super expensive sports cars, were waiting for them: a small, sporty neon green Lotus and an suave, futuristic looking silver Lamborghini. 

"What the hell?" Eren whispered.

"Oh, yeah. We retired, remember? It's a long story, but we got quite a settlement from the Navy." Erwin explained with a smile. 

"Well, I think there was more than that involved." Levi said with a smirk. "It was kind of like a "Thanks for saving the world, now shut the fuck up." He looked at Eren and Armin. "Even though you were the ones who did all the work, you risked your life to save everyone, we still got all the recognition for it." 

The two shrugged. "It's no big deal, really." Eren smiled. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have even survived. All that matters is that everything worked out okay, and now we're together." 

There was comfortable silence between them for a moment, as they all remembered what had happened a handful of months prior. It was like something that only happened in storybooks, but it had happened to them. They were all so incredibly lucky to be alive, after all they had been through together. Erwin subconsciously swept his arm around Eren's waist, while Levi grabbed Armin's hand. 

"Well, shall we?" Erwin asked after a bit. 

They had to split up, as they all couldn't fit in one of the small cars, so Armin went with Levi and Erwin took Eren and they zipped through York toward their unknown destination. 

They expected the drive to be short, but it stretched on longer and longer, until they were out of York, and then out a familiar area completely. 

"Where are we going?" Eren questioned Erwin curiously.

"You'll see." He smiled, pushing his small car faster up the back roads.

Eren eventually fell asleep in the car, and was awoken a few hours later as the terrain got a little bumpier, and the car rocked a bit. 

He looked out the window. "What?" He muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Snow?" 

The large blonde smiled, his hand rubbing Eren's thigh to wake him. "We're here." 

He pulled his silver car up next to Levi's, and they got out, looking around. They were in the mountains, surrounded by enormous evergreen trees topped with snow. The air was fresh and clean, and there wasn't a building in sight for miles, save the one right in front of them. The had pulled up next to a gorgeous, modern looking black and glass home, with large windows on all sides, taking in the view of the snowy mountain all around it. 

"Aah, what?" Eren whispered, as he shivered in his tank top, wondering how it had gotten so freezing between the bay area and where they were now. Erwin pulled a light jacket out of the car and wrapped the brunette inside of it, while Armin stood wrapped around Levi, and they shared his small cardigan. 

"Where are we?" Armin asked, looking around in wonder. 

"Winter Park." Erwin responded. "All the way up in the mountains. The actual city of Winter Park is about a mile and a half down the mountain. But up here it's just...this." He said, motioning to the house, and all the trees and mountains around it. 

"It's gigantic." Eren said as he looked up at the house.

Levi rocked he and Armin back and forth a bit, his boots crunching in the snow. "It's--there's space for all of us, if you'd like." He said, nervously. 

Armin and Eren's jaws dropped. 

"You mean, we'd live together?" Eren asked, the question coming out of his mouth rather stupidly. 

"I know you told me that you wanted to live in a beach house, Armin..." Erwin started, "And we haven't known each other that long, and moving in together is a big step--" 

"--And it's far away from York. We'd be taking you away from your jobs, and from the life you lived there. You'd have to find new jobs and get adjusted in Winter Park. And it's okay if--" 

"Yes." Armin inturrupted him, and Eren looked at Armin, then back at the elder men and nodded heartily in agreement. 

"We'd never..." Eren didn't know how to finish his sentence. In his head, it was something along the lines of "We'd never imagined that something this amazing would happen to us." but it didn't sound right. 

Levi grabbed Eren, yanking him in to the group hug with he and Armin, Erwin following. "I love you. We love you. Both of you. We want to spend the rest of our lives with you. All of us together. You've changed us. We want to be with you." 

In an instant, they were all in group hug, squeezed together by Erwin's long arms. "We want that too." Armin squeaked out. 

"More than anything." 

\--

Erwin gave Armin the key to unlock the tall, grey door, swinging it open into the beautiful, well lit home, abundant with natural light from the windows. They were able to see straight through the house out the windows on the other side, overlooking the snowy, mountanous terrain. They both gasped at the beauty of the area and how different it was from their current, small apartment in York.

As soon as the door was open, a tiny jingle was heard. 

"What is that?" Eren asked, looking around curiously. From around the corner, a tiny grey kitten came into view, carefully padding across the white carpet. He had wide green eyes and a white ribbon tied around his neck, a small bell on the ribbon. He stopped just before the door, looking at the four titans who had wandered in. 

"Oh my god!" Armin squeaked, as he bent down motioning for the tiny creature, who came to him, and he picked it up in his arms while it mewed happily.

"His name is Dust." Erwin smiled. "Do you like him?" 

Armin nodded vigorously. "For me?" 

"Of course." Erwin said, kissing him on the nose. 

He cuddled the small feline to his chest as the rest of the men entered the house, which was much warmer than the outside. 

There was an entry hall that lead into a living room room, with an enormous vaulted ceiling and a modern chandelier hanging, silver and staggared, looking like falling stars. 

A beautiful white marble fireplace was the focal point of the living room, across from it was a slate colored couch. White carpet lined the room, and the whole back wall was floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out into the snowy expanse. 

Behind the couch was the kitchen, long marble countertops, stainless steel appliances and a gas range, and a table set for four. 

Off to the side was a long hallway which lead to the spare room, library, bathroom and study, and a tall a black spiral staircase going up to the visible balcony where there were four rooms, and also leading down to the underground garage and basement. 

It was beautiful. 

"I'll show you around." Erwin smiled. 

The first room upstairs was for Armin, with large book cases, a long writing desk, and an intracatly carved wooden sleigh bed. There was a walk in closet and dresser and cabinet space, and an attached bathroom, which joined his room with Eren's. Eren's room had a large easel set up in it, and an abundance of shelves filled with art supplies, as well as a unique four posted bed, a large closet and a desk.

The next room was Erwin's. It was the master bedroom, with an overly large bed covered with red silk sheets and a white duvet. A suspicious looking wardrobe similar to Eren's sat in the corner, and a bathroom with a jacuzzi and walk in shower was attached. 

The last room was Levi's, with a laughably small bed, a rowing machine, and a poster of Eren hanging on the wall. 

The basement had a large garage, a storage room and a game room set up with a pool table and ping-pong table, as well as a soft couch and big screen TV for movies and gaming. 

It was a breathtaking home. 

After the tour, they all walked back to the entry hall, looking at the white, untouched snow outside. 

"Do you like it?" Erwin asked hopefully. 

Armin smiled, lacing his fingers with Eren's, who stood beside him. "It's beautiful. Its amazing. But...why do we all have our own beds?" 

Erwin smiled. "It felt weird without them, I guess. And if you ever want to sleep alone, it's there." 

"When can we move in?" 

\--

It was only a couple days later that they were unloading the moving van at the large house. Levi had taken it upon himself to hang all of Eren's paintings around the house, his favorite picture, the painting of Rockaway Beach, hung over the marble fireplace in the living room, a stark contrast to the snowy landscape outside the windows. 

They had loved the beach, but after everything, both Eren and Armin were fairly certain they were absolutely fine with never seeing the ocean again. 

The picture of Armin on his motorcycle got hung up in Erwin's bedroom, and the award winning painting of Armin and Mikasa set in the '50s hung in Eren's room. 

Many other paintings that he had finished, like the watercolor of the fox, and a huge painting just of Levi's gunmetal grey eyes, hung around the home, giving the abode color and life. 

The largest, most unique painting hung in the basement, along with a first place ribbon still pinned to the canvas. 

It was inspired by a picture taken by Hange, of Armin's back after it had been burned in the underwater lab explosion. In the painting, the flesh of the subject's back was charred and peeling, and his skull and spine visible. However, the spine and skull were silver, and the character's bald head was tipping to look down at his hand, which was a metal, robotic arm. It had a very distopian and futuristic feel, and had won first place in a Science Fiction themed art contest, which made them all very proud. 

\-- 

Eren was shirtless, his tank top rolled up and tucked in the back pocket of his pants, showing off his tattoos on his chest and back. They had just finished unloading the last of the boxes, and Eren couldn't believe he was going to be able to call this place home. Home, with Erwin, Levi and Armin. His family. 

Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him, and a small, cold hand was over his mouth, yanking his body against his own. 

He recognized the musky smell and short, dark frame. 

Levi. 

Eren smiled as the small man wrapped his hand around his mouth, standing on his tiptoes and whispering something in his ear.

Eren shook his head no furiously. 

Levi furrowed his brows and whispered again, to which Eren responded "No fucking way, he'll kill us," the words muffled by Levi's hand. 

Levi whispered one more thing, and Eren rolled his eyes, a smirk appearing behind Levi's palm, as he allowed the ravenette to drag him away, down the basement steps. 

\--

Erwin was grasping onto Armin's waist, holding him tightly as the smaller blonde wrapped his legs against him, sitting on the edge of the pool table. They kissed hard and sloppily, Erwin's teeth grazing across Armin's lip, then down his neck as he bit into his shoulder, and Armin let out a soft moan. 

Armin threw his head back, and Erwin tangled one hand in his blonde hair, while Armin pawed at Erwin's growing erection. 

Erwin stilled his hands with his large grip. "Angel, be good." He warned him. "Or else I may have to bend you over and take you right here." He said, as he licked up Armin's chin. 

Armin had slowly become okay with many things he had been terrified of in the past, learning to trust his lovers. It was exciting for all of them, working through his past and issues, and being able to explore different types of play together. 

"Promises, promises." Armin teased. 

"I'll do it, you don't believe me?" Erwin asked as he began unbuckling his belt. "Bad boys get punishe---do you hear that?" His sultry train of thought was interrupted when they heard something that sounded like a like a wounded animal at first, but then turned into the unmistakable sound of Levi screaming Eren's name. 

Erwin picked Armin up, towing him and Dust, who was latched onto Armin's shoulder, to where the noise was. 

They followed the sound to the garage, where the doors to Erwin's Lamborghini were open. Eren was seated in the passenger seat of Erwin's car, holding Levi in his lap, bending him in half, his legs over his shoulders as he lifted his hips into him. Levi was gripping onto Eren's arms as the position stretched in in a way he'd never been before, and precum dripped down his stomach, sliding down his ivory skin onto the seat of Erwin's car. 

The ravenette was whimpering and moaning Eren's name, tears seeping from the corners of his eyes. 

Erwin saw them and made a 'tsk' sound. "Barbarians. In my car...unbelievable." Then he shrugged, walking across the garage and dumping Armin on the hood of Levi's Lotus, the small grey kitten scampering off to hide. 

He manhandled the smaller blonde until he was bending over the lime green hood, and Armin looked over his shoulder at the larger man, playfully shaking his ass at him, telling him to hurry up. Erwin growled and yanked the smaller man's pants down, exposing his perfect, pink hole that was already stretched from being used by Eren a few hours before. 

"What?" Levi exclaimed, as he saw Erwin tug off his shirt and slide his pants down to his knees, kissing and whispering in the smaller blonde's ear. "Aah, don't you dare! Mmm...cum will take off the paint, you bastard!" He tried to yell, but it came out more as breathy moans, and Eren continued to pleasure him.

"You started this." Erwin shrugged, as he gently fingered his lover, opening him a bit. He turned his attention to Armin. "I love you, angel. You're so beautiful. Are you ready for this?" 

Armin nodded with a smile. 

"You know you can always use your safe words if I'm hurting you or going to fast. You don't have to worry about being shy with me, you know that?" He asked, pushing Armin's hair out of his face so he could see his eyes. 

"I know." The younger whispered. "I'm not afraid anymore. Because it's you." 

Erwin kissed the back of his shoulders gently as he maneuvered into him. Armin's eyes made contact with Eren's and then scanned over Levi's frame, who was getting successfully fucked out by Eren, his eyes glassy and tear stained and head back, short, consistent moans floating from his mouth as he clung to Eren, while the brunette bounced him up and down in his lap roughly. 

Erwin bent the smaller blonde over the hood of Levi's car, and after he was sure he was ready, began to rock his large cock into him, slamming the smaller man's hips against the front of his car, pushing him up on to the hood of it a little more as he reamed into him. 

Aah, aah, Daddy...Mmm, that's so good..." Armin whimpered, knowing how much Erwin relished in the sound of his pet name. 

"Aah, do you like that, Angel?" 

"Yes daddy...mmm," Armin moaned, as Erwin rolled his hips, the whole car rocking as he thrust himself into the smaller man. "Aah, your cock is so big daddy. I love the way it feels inside of me." 

A deep, guttural groan left Erwin's throat as he slammed into the man harder, his knees and legs hitting the front grill of the car, making Armin cry out, as Levi and Eren watched eagerly, always turned on by the show that Erwin and Armin were able to put on. 

"Harder, daddy, aah, please..." 

"So good. You're so beautiful, angel." The larger man cooed, as he twisted his fingers in the blonde's hair, slamming his head down onto the hood of the car, and ramming into his prostate, so deep into the smaller man, making him feel so full and so taken care of. Armin's back arched and his mouth opened in a soundless scream as his fingernails dug into his own palms, which he rested on the hood of the car next to his head. 

Eren worked Levi's body hard, sweat and tears and cum running down his small frame. The ravenette arched his back, letting out a shiver and a short, pleasured whine as he came on the brunette in front of him, the cum dripping down onto the leather seats beneath them.

A few seconds later Armin released, with a moan of Erwin's name, his cum shooting all over the hood of Levi's car. 

"Bastard." Levi panted, as he kissed Eren, then looked at Erwin, squinty eyed. 

"You started it." Erwin smirked, pulling Armin into a tight, warm hug. 

\--

It took both Eren and Armin a moment to realize where they were the next morning when they woke up, tangled up in each other, as well as extra, warm limbs. 

Levi was pressed into Eren's body, his raven hair brushing up against the taller man's lips, tickling him. Armin slept tucked into Erwin's strong chest, his back closely pressed against Eren's. 

Their eyes blinked a few times as they looked around Erwin's large room and the huge bed they were all nestled in, protected from the chilly weather outside. 

Ah. We're here. Here. With our family. Home.


	25. Epilogue: Ohana Means Family, or, Erwin Gets His

"Aah, mmm, fuck...Armin...oh my god." 

A mix of French and English expletives tumbled from Levi's lips as Armin held him up against the wall, thrusting into him while he sucked a gentle pink kiss mark behind the the ravenette's ear. 

"Shh, shh. Calm down, Captain." Armin cooed, as he rocked his hips into the petite man, Levi's soft, ivory legs wrapped around the blonde's slim waist. "You can't come yet, you know that. Just hold on." His lips met Levi's and they kissed savagely as Armin slid the smaller man up and down on his member. He swallowed the petite man's moans in their kiss, trying to stave off their orgasms.

The ravenette clenched his teeth, digging his fingernails into the blonde's long hair that fell around his shoulders, blinded by the pleasure. "Fuck. Armin. I can't. Baise je suis proche. I'm close...Armin..." 

"Levi." A deep, calm voice called to him. "Don't cum. You know the rule." 

Levi looked across the room to see Erwin, leaning casually against the plush headboard of his large bed, looking relaxed and pleased, as Eren bounced up and down on his cock, his back to the larger man. 

Erwin had his hands wrapped around the brunette's body and he was tweaking and squeezing his nipples as Eren panted and whined, mouth open and head back as he slid Erwin's massive dick in and out of himself. 

"If you want to cum, Levi," Erwin said, "Ask Eren to work harder."

Levi loved and hated this game. Armin had affectionately named it "Daddy comes first," which should speak for itself. None of them were allowed to cum until Erwin came, and being that he was the eldest, it generally took him the longest to reach orgasm, no matter how good his partner was. 

"Eren..." A soft whine left Levi's throat. "Please. I can't do this for very much longer." 

He trembled in Armin's strong grasp. Levi never would have imagined when he had met the petite, nervous blonde a year and a half prior that he would eventually be being held up against the wall by him, being absolutely fucked into oblivion. Armin was completely different than when they had first met. He was strong, mentally and physically, and sure of himself, and that made him so, so incredibly sexy. He was an amazing top: soft, fluid, and consistant. He could drive him to an orgasm quickly with sure, gentle strokes that drove the ravenette absolutely mad. 

Levi's eyes moved to his other young lover. Eren looked like he was about at the end of his rope too, his eyes almost completely closed, and his mouth hanging open as he rode Erwin. 

The larger blonde used one of his big hands to fondle Eren's pert, caramel buttcheeks, and the other to twist and flick his nipples. "Don't cum, kitten." He said, reaching down and squeezing the base of Eren's cock. Eren choked out a sob as Erwin robbed him of his orgasm, making his hips stutter. 

"Please." He cried out. "I can't. I need...please..." 

Erwin leaned forward and kissed behind the brunette's ear. "You can, kitten. I know you can. Work that ass for me." He said, gripping his small butt with one hand, and rolling his hips while he clenched his other large hand around Eren's base. Tears appeared in the brunette's eyes. 

"Commander, please..." He garbled. 

"Do you have something to say, love?" He asked, as he suckled a kiss into the brunette's collarbone. "Do you need to use your safeword?"

"I--" He stuttered, trying to working his hips, exhausted and at his peak. He shook his head no. 

Erwin smiled, rewarding Eren's persistence with a kiss on the nape of his neck. He relished in seeing his lovers like this. Absolutely torn apart. Levi's head was thrown back against the wall, and he was letting out small, inhuman whines. Armin was sinking his teeth into the ravenette's shoulder and had slowed his thrusts, trying not to cum inside the smaller man's tight heat. Blood was running down Armin's back from Levi's nails tearing into him, and the ravenette's heels were making red marks from digging into his partner's back. 

"Don't stop, angel." Erwin said, Armin looking over his shoulder, his eyes meeting with Erwin's. "I want you to fuck captain until he faints, just like he likes it." At the command, Armin continued sliding into Levi, massaging his prostate while his fingers dug into the smaller man's thighs and butt as he held him against the wall.

"Je ne peux pas je ne peux pas s'il vous plaît arrêter fuck fuck fuck...Armin I can't..."

Erwin smiled as he ran his lips down Eren's back. It was beautiful, his smooth, dark skin, now wet with sweat and heaving as he tried to catch his breath. His dreamcatcher tattoo was magnificent, and his new tattoo, the last name 'Ackerman' was still a little red at the base of his spine, but looked beautiful carved into his flesh, the tattoo that matched his own, Armin's, and Levi's. 

He was right on the edge, feeling Eren's tight heat fluttering around him was making him shiver. But he couldn't release. Not yet. He loved this, making his lovers moan and arch and scream until they couldn't take it anymore. 

"Are you ready, kitten?" Erwin asked the smaller man bouncing in his lap, while his hands teased his nipples and squeezed his shaft. 

"Yes...aah, please commander. Please. Let me cum." He trembled. 

Erwin watched a bead of sweat drip down the back of Eren's neck, sliding down the beautiful curve of his spine, where there were still scratch marks from another day, from Levi's small, sharp fingernails. Unlike himself, Armin and Levi, when they fucked Eren, they could leave marks that would stay. Due to that fact, Eren was always riddled in bites, scratches and kiss marks, which he complained about endlessly, but they would never stop. Erwin licked the bead of sweat off of his lover's sunkissed skin, and pushed the smaller man forward into doggy position. He wrapped one arm under his lover, and with the other hand he kept a tight grasp on Eren's purple, dripping erection. 

"No, no no no no, Commander, please!" Eren begged. Erwin was the best in doggy position. He knew how to use his cock to make any of them reach their peak almost instantly. It happened frequently when they played this game, it was a losing battle. And if one of them came before Erwin, then the rest of them didn't get their release. 

"Eren, please, you can do it." Levi's voice cracked, as Armin continued to slide into him, wrapping his hand around the ravenette's erection, his precum leaking over into his fist. 

Erwin slammed into Eren's wet heat, hitting the brunette's prostate straight on and sending an electric jolt through his body. Eren gasped out at the pain and pleasure associated with it. 

"No...commander..." He whined. 

"You're doing so well, kitten." Erwin cooed, plunging into Eren again. The man in front of him barked out at the overwhelming sensations, tears running down his face. 

He thrust in a third time, and the large blonde made a low, gutteral growl, and the brunette felt his body begin fill up with Erwin's warm, slick cum. 

The larger man released his tight hold on the brunette's cock as he slammed into him one last time, his cum overflowing from Eren's red, gaping hole. The brunette saw white as he came endless streams of milky cum across the white duvet beneath them, and then passed out on the bed. 

Armin clenched his teeth as he dropped Levi onto his cock one more time, loosening his grip on the ravenette's erection. The two came simultaneously, with Levi letting out a chorous of "baise baise gaah, Armin, fuck fuck," as the blonde's cum dripped out of him, running down his thighs, as he finished across Armin's chin and chest. 

He slumped forward against Armin, and the two slid down the wall, in an exhausted, whimpering puddle. Erwin pulled the unconscious Eren against his chest, kissing him, while he looked at the pile of cum-soaked, fucked-out lovers against the wall, and smiled. 

\--

It was already November, and the fresh snow was piling up around their beautiful mountain home where they had lived together for eight months already.

So much had happened in that time together. Eren had found a nice job as a museum curator in Winter Park, Armin worked at the Winter Park Chronicle doing investigative journalism, and Erwin and Levi had gotten jobs on the police force. 

Winter Park was a sleepy town, so there was rarely much news or police work to be done, but they still all enjoyed their jobs immensely. Eren made trips every so often to York for modeling, and everyone generally tagged along to visit Mike and Hange and have some time in the big city. By now, they were all well adjusted to their new life.

Ropter the ball python had (despite Erwin's protest) been given a space in the basement, and he had Dust had become best friends. Dust had grown into a curious lithe creature, and when he wasn't on top of bookshelves or walking across handrails, he was often seen sleeping right next to the snake's cage. 

The winter house just seemed to be the place for unlikely relationships. 

They had recently all changed their last name to "Ackerman." They had decided that since they were a family, they should have the same last name. Erwin argued that it should be his, of course since he was the eldest, however, it was determined that Smith was a boring last name, so they went with Levi's instead. They had all gotten matching tattoos of their last name on their lower back, and were still growing into the change (Except for Levi, of course, who had had that last name his whole life.) 

Eren, Armin and Levi stood in the kitchen making dinner together that cold November night, while Erwin went into town to run some errands. They were working on a pasta dish and fresh salad, but Armin was distractedly staring out the window repeatedly sighing. 

"Why are you sighing? Is something wrong?" Eren asked, wrapping his arm around his friend's waist. 

"You know how we play those games all the time, like "Daddy comes first?" Armin asked. 

"Yeah, of course." 

"Sometimes I feel like Erwin is the only one that gets to have fun. He's always in charge." Armin sighed. 

"Yeah, so? That's just like...the thing." 

"So, well, maybe its time for payback, you know? I kind of want to shove some anal beads up his asshole. Make him scream for once." 

An amused laugh exited Levi's mouth at the thought. "Well that'd be a new one for sure." 

"I mean it. Seriously, he's never been fucked by anyone except for Mike, right? Maybe its time." 

"You want to fuck Erwin?" Eren asked, cocking his head to the side.

A smile crept up Armin's cheeks. "I want all of us to fuck him." 

\-- 

It was a few days later that they decided to put Armin's plan into action. Erwin worked late that night on patrol, and they had everything prepared when he came home. 

Erwin entered the large home, and all the lights were off, the full moon reflecting off the snow and shining perfect silver light through the large windows of the house. 

Dust jingled up to meet him, rubbing his body around Erwin's black slacks lovingly. He picked up the adorable small cat and hugged him, petting the feline softly and kissing it on the head before it wriggled away. 

He talked to the small cat. "Where is everyone, Dust?" 

A voice answered him out of the darkness. "Here." It was Levi's voice, coming from the shadows. 

Levi walked into view, standing where Erwin could see him. He was bathed in silver moonlight, wearing tight leather pants, a leather jacket and combat boots, with a black half-mask on his upper face, his silver eyes the same color as the moonlight and full of fire. He held a riding crop in his hand.

Erwin took one step back and then a smile crept up his lips. He dropped his messenger bag to the floor and shrugged off his jacket while maintaining eye contact with Levi. Levi understood the motion, and dropped the riding crop to the ground while the two moved into the living room on the softer carpet. 

Erwin lunged at Levi, who ducked, landing two deft punches into Erwin's ribs. Erwin lifted a knee and bashed it into Levi's face, then grabbed the smaller man by the shoulders and flung him onto the couch. He advanced toward the couch where Levi was hurriedly getting up, aiming to grab the ravenette, but Levi threw his foot out, catching the blonde in the jaw. A sick crackling noise was heard and Erwin held his jaw while Levi leapt on him, hoping to take him to the ground but instead ending up clinging to the larger man like a koala.

Levi brought a knee up into the blonde's chest, while steam rose from their wounds. Erwin dropped Levi upon the impact, and the ravenette backed away into the kitchen, grabbing a knife out of the knife block, swinging it at the larger man as he advanced. 

Erwin blocked, the blade slicing open his forearms and blood spurting across the back of the couch and carpet. 

The blonde hissed and knocked the knife from Levi's hand with a kick, and the ravenette reacted with a graceful back bend, that turned into a handspring, backing away from the taller man. 

Erwin advanced, picking up the knife, and moving toward Levi who was backing up toward the large windows with nowhere to go. 

"I think this is game over for you, Levi. You seem to always box yourself into a corner." Erwin said smugly, the sound and sight of steam filling the room as their light wounds worked on healing. 

Suddenly there was another knife at Erwin's throat. 

"Don't move." The silky voice was Eren's. 

Erwin grabbed the knife in his hand tighter, while Eren pressed his blade into Erwin's neck. "I don't regenerate. If you get in a fight while I'm here, I might get hurt." 

The knife clattered to the ground, and Erwin dropped to his knees. One thing Erwin was terrified of was physically hurting Eren, which annoyed him to no end, but today it worked in their favor. Armin was the one holding the knife, just in case Erwin had split second muscle memory reaction and stabbed behind him as soon as he felt a blade to his throat. 

Armin kept the knife at his throat while Eren wrapped a blindfold around Erwin's eyes. 

"What's going on? " Erwin inquired. 

"Ssh." Was Levi's only answer, as they secured rope tightly around Erwin's wrists, then his forearms, then around his upper body, typing his upper arms tightly to the rest of his body and making him completely immoble. He felt something furry around his neck and his heart rate spead up as the fur around his neck got tighter, and goosebumps tore up his body, his heartrate accelerating. 

"There." The voice was soft, with a slight hint of humor. "You look so beautiful daddy, dressed up like our toy." It was Armin's voice, and Erwin felt one of his lover's soft fingers run over his bottom lip. "We're going to play with you tonight. All night long. Until you can't cum anymore, and you beg us to stop." 

Erwin gulped, heat rushing through his body and a pink tinge immediately going to his cheeks, as the words coming out of Armin's mouth so smoothly made him hard. 

There was a slight yank, and Erwin realized that what was around his neck was a collar, and Armin was holding the end of the leash. "Come on, daddy." He said. 

The three of them lifted the larger man off his knees, and they guided Erwin up the familiar stairs into Armin's bedroom, which smelled like grapefruit and books. 

Erwin's breathing was fast, and he was biting on his lips as they got into Armin's room. They came to a stop in the middle of the room, and he was already painfully hard at the suspense and excitement. 

Armin ran his hand down Erwin's face. "You belong to us tonight, daddy. Are you excited?" 

"Yes." He gasped. "But, please...let me see you." 

There was confirring between the three, and then Erwin's blindfold was lifted from his eyes, and Erwin looked across the room and his three lovers. 

The room was alit by the moonlight,and dozens of colorful candles, set out around the desk, bookshelf, and across the windowsill, giving beautiful, sensual light to the room. 

His lovers were all wearing leather, Levi and Eren wearing leather pants, Eren shirtless, Levi in a leather jacket, Armin wearing leather shorts and knee high lace up leather boots, and a leather vest. 

Eren's hair had grown longer, and was half pulled back in in a small ponytail, the rest falling shaggy around his face. He also had a bit of facial hair, that made him look much older and wilder, his teal eyes shining and a wide, devilish smile was on his face. He was wearing a half mask as well, but it was different than Levi's, it was half on one side of his face, similar to the phantom of the opera.

Armin's hair was up in a tidy man bun, his golden fringe and wisps coming down around his face, framing his slender jaw, and a fine fishtail braid visible around his crown and in the midst of his bun. His mask was red, and matched the red, furry collar around Erwin's neck, which was attached to the leash in the smaller blonde's hand.

"What--" Erwin began, but Armin yanked the leash, making Erwin stumble into him (almost knocking him over.) Armin put a finger to the larger man's lips. "Your mouth is good for one thing tonight. Do you understand me?" 

Erwin gulped, then nodded, not sure if he was more surprised or aroused at the blonde's newfound attitude. 

"Get on your knees." Armin demanded, yanking the leash and Erwin falling to the ground roughly. 

Armin unzipped his shorts and worked the tight bottoms down a few inches, pulling out his hardened member. He moved close to Erwin, and tangling his hand in the older man's flaxen strands, he inserted his cock into the larger man's mouth. 

Erwin moaned at Armin's cold dominance, as he held on to his hair roughly, tilting the kneeling blonde's chin up so their eyes met, swimming crystal blue and perfect cobalt. "Look at me." Armin demanded, as he began to pop his hips, sliding in and out of Erwin's mouth. Erwin moaned, opening his throat and swallowing, taking all of Armin's cock down his airway without hesitation, drool running down his chin and lips as he was unable to even move any of his upper body from the restraints binding him. 

"Come here, you. Bend over." Armin heard behind him, and behind him on the bed was the sound of zippers being unzipped, and a plop, and moaning that started immediately, as Levi began to immediately pound into Eren, their already well prepared holes hungry and their cocks hard from seeing Erwin at Armin's mercy. 

Armin turned their bodies so that Erwin could watch the two on the bed, Levi standing, grabbing Eren's hips and thrusting in hard, Eren yelling out in short, breathy pants. He wasn't going to last long, but it was only the first round of the night. 

"Do you like watching that, Commander? Do you like watching Eren's pretty pink hole get fucked by Captain?" 

Erwin let out a groan in response, Armin's whole body vibrating and the smaller blonde gripping into Erwin's fine hair tighter. 

"I can sure tell. Look at this bulge down here already." He said, pressing his leather boot up against Erwin's crotch, where his large erection was already more than obvious, tenting through his pants. 

Erwin howeled around Armin's cock, which was deep down his throat, his nose pressed all the way against Armin's well trimmed pubic mound. 

Armin continued to grind his foot against the kneeling man's clothed cock while he snapped his hips, fucking his face, and the sounds of Eren and Levi's moaning and panting filling the room. 

Armin moaned, "Aah, I'm close," and quickened the speed that his foot was rubbing against Erwin's bulge, while the sound of Levi coming across Eren's back was heard behind them. 

Armin came into Erwin's mouth, streams of sweet, milky cum, while tears gathered in the corners of Erwin's eyes from the sensation. 

"Don't swallow." Levi demanded from behind Armin, as he wiped the cum off of Eren's back with a towel, both of them getting back up, and pulling their pants up and approaching Erwin.

"What?" The blonde gurgled. 

"You're not allowed to swallow until you've come." 

Armin's mouth showed a hint of surprise, and Erwin looked down at his body. He was still fully clothed, in his shoes, pants, and shirt underneath the ropes. 

"But..." He protested through the cum. 

Armin ground his foot into Erwin's package harder, a wet spot of precum showing through the black fabric and the elder man groaning. 

"Armin's been kind enough to lend you his shoe. If he's not doing a good enough job of getting you off with his foot, why don't you ask him if you can rut off on it, like a dog in heat?" 

Erwin shook his head no. 

"Do NOT swallow, Erwin Ackerman." Levi demanded. 

"Or what?" He gargled. 

"Or Armin will be disappointed in you. Do you want to disappoint your angel?" 

Erwin looked down, seeming crestfallen at the idea. He looked back up, a few seconds later, his bulge still painfully large in his pants. A blush unlike anything that they had ever seen before crossed his face. His mouth still full of cum, he bubbled, "May I...use your boot?" 

Armin smirked and nodded, and Erwin blushed as his three lovers watched him shuffle forward, putting Armin's tall, laced boot between his legs. He began to rut against it, groaning as the slope of Armin's ankle and the laces rubbed him perfectly. He hated to think that he was getting off on a boot, and to think about what he looked like, humping his lover's ankle, a collar around his neck, cum dripping from between his lips. He moaned a deep, pleasured moan as he swallowed and came, his cum squishing into his boxer briefs and feeling disgustingly uncomfortable in his pants. 

"Are we done? Can I go change?" He asked weakly.

"No." Eren smiled. "We haven't even started." 

"Get on the bed." Armin instructed. The three helped Erwin on the bed, as his arms were completely unmovable behind his back. Levi positioned himself behind Erwin, who was bent over, his ass in the air after getting on the bed. Eren sat in front of him, legs open, leash in hands, while Armin leaned up against the headboard next to Eren. 

Without warning, Levi stripped off Erwin's shoes, socks, pants and boxers, leaving him in just his crumpled white button up, that was being adhered to his skin by the tight ropes around his upper body. Erwin's lower body was dripping due to his orgasm, and Levi crinkled his nose. "So filthy, Erwin. Filthy, filthy."

There was the sound of a bottle opening, and Erwin gasped out as cold liquid was felt running down between his thighs. "Wait!" He gasped, but as his mouth was open, Eren guided it down around his half hard cock, not giving him any choice but to accept it into his mouth. 

Erwin moaned around Eren's member, and the brunette smiled as he held Erwin's head in his lap, running his fingers around the collar and gyrating his hips, thrusting in and out of the larger man's throat. 

"Don't worry daddy. We'll go slow for you. You'll love it, I promise." Armin whispered. "You've been doing so good so far. You were so sexy when you came in your pants. I've never seen you blush like that before. You looked so beautiful." 

Levi entered one finger into the man's tight hole, and Erwin's whole body jerked, and he cried out around Eren's cock. 

"Aah, Erwin. Your hole is so pink and tight." Levi observed, sliding one finger in and out while he kissed up the blonde's back. "It's been a long time since you've had someone inside you. You're practically a virgin." 

"You remember the safe words, daddy?" Armin asked, and Erwin nodded. 

"Very good. Then just enjoy it. Enjoy it while we make you feel good. We're going to make you cum over and over again, daddy. Until you can't even remember your own name. All you can remember is us. And how good we can make you feel." 

Armin pulled Erwin's head off of Eren's cock, and pulled it over into his lap, and guided his lips around his cock. His lips were dripping with saliva, cum and spit, and a string of spit followed him from Eren's cock over to his own while the blonde twisted his fingers in the large man's golden strands and began to thrust into his throat. 

"You were so good for us earlier, daddy. Do you want more of our cum?" Armin asked, he and Eren both running their fingers through Erwin's hair.

Levi inserted a second finger into the larger man, twisting, probing, looking for the small, walnut sized gland that would make him absolutely keen. He wanted to see it, the man who always made them fall apart absolutely crying and begging for release. He continued his search but couldn't find it and grunted a sigh. Were his fingers not long enough? 

He motioned his head for Eren, who climbed off of the bed, to switch places with the ravenette. Levi crawled up on the bed next to Armin, opening his legs and getting ready to use Erwin's face. 

Erwin wanted to hate it, being helpless, being used. But something about it was so new, and so different, and so absolutely wrong, it made him more turned on than he had ever been before. He wanted to be used, and fucked, and played with. He wanted his lovers to take him apart until he was crying and begging and dripping with their cum. 

Erwin's whole body shook as Eren slipped three lubed fingers into him. Eren probed and prodded, while Levi moved Erwin's upper body into his lap, and Erwin began lapping and sucking at Levi's cock, tasting Levi's previous release on the tip. 

Levi was stuffing the blonde's face full of cock and Eren was fingering him, a concentrated look on his face, when suddenly, the larger man's body arched and shuddered, and he cried out "Eren," the words vibrating around Levi's member. 

"Aah, Found it." Eren smiled devilishly, as he continued to massage Erwin's prostate, getting up on his knees and pulling Erwin's thighs over his legs, tilting his hips to get a better angle. 

Erwin cried out repeated, short moans, as his body and mind were melted by the amazing feeling of Eren milking his prostate mercilessly. His eyes were sliding closed and his hips were shaking, while Levi grabbed his hair and fucked his mouth harder. 

"Do you love that? Do you love that way that we can make you feel, daddy?" Armin asked, running his fingers along Erwin's collar. "You look so pretty just now. Like you want to be fucked so bad. We can give you what you want, daddy." Erwin moaned as Eren rubbed his prostate with his long slender fingers, driving him absolutely crazy. He added a fourth finger, stretching him wide open.

"Aah, Christ, Armin." Levi murmerred. 

"This is fucking amazing. You were right. Look at how he's responding to us." Eren said, running his fingertip over Erwin's thick, heavy dick, which was dripping precum onto the duvet beneath them. 

"I think he's going to cum again soon. I think he likes this." The ravenette agreed. 

Erwin's head spun as he heard his lovers talking about him like he wasn't there. It made him hot, like he didn't have a say in anything, like he was just a hole to get fucked. The thought made tight heat coil in his belly and he was sure he was going to come again. 

"Flip him over." Armin instructed, and the three flipped the large man onto his back. Levi mounted the blonde, sliding into his mouth from above, while Armin slid his hands under the back of Erwin's head to help out the angle as the ravenette began to plunge his cock down the man's throat again. 

Without warning, Eren spread Erwin's legs and began to slide into him, holding up his thick thighs apart with his strong arms. 

Erwin gasped, his hips rising into the air, and Eren pushing them back down. "Stay." Eren whispered. "I'll make you feel good. Just relax." 

"Ooh, I'm disappointed." Armin pouted. "I wanted to be daddy's first time." 

Levi smiled. "Eren will get him all warmed up for you. You can go second." 

The brunette slowly slid into the larger man inch by inch as Erwin gasped and moaned around Levi's cock.

"God, this is gonna make me cum." The ravenette gasped, feeling Erwin's gasping and swallowing around his cock. 

"Then cum." Armin smiled. "He'll like it. He swallowed mine all up. Don't you like eating our cum, daddy?" He redirected his question to Erwin. "Do you want Captain's cum in your mouth, while Eren fucks you in your tight little hole?" 

Erwin let out a low, guttural growl, surprised and aroused by the filth coming out of Armin's mouth. "Do you want us to ruin you, daddy? Fuck you up so you can't walk for days? Cover you in our cum until you're wet and sticky?" 

"Mmm...Angel..." Was barely audible as Levi continued to thrust into his mouth, Armin running his fingers through the blonde's hair. 

Soon Eren was sheathed fully inside of Erwin, and he let out a long, pleasured moan of his own. "Oh my God, Commander. You feel amazing. You're so tight." He began to thrust into him slowly at first, adding more lube as he needed to, then speeding up. 

"Fuck, Commander. So tight...you're squeezing me so good..." Eren gasped. 

Soon the brunette was thrusting into the larger man at a brutal pace, gripping his large hips with his hands roughly and abusing his already stimulated prostate. He mouthed at Erwin's nipples, licking and sucking on them, moving from one to another, making the man choke at the unexpected wetness. 

Erwin moaned out, his moans vibrating Levi's cock. The ravenette threw his head back. "Aah, I'm coming. I'm coming!" His warm, salty cum splashed down Erwin's throat, the blonde coughing around the smaller man's cock, cum splattering across his chin and face as Levi pulled out.

"Mmm. Good boy." Levi murmered, looking at Erwin, whose face was covered with his cum. "Did you like that?" 

Erwin panted, mouth opened, letting out small whines and Eren thrust into him. "Yes." 

The ravenette ran his hand down Erwin's face. "What do you say, then, when someone gives you a gift?" 

"Mmm--aa--ank you." 

"Mmm, you're welcome, Commander." 

Eren's hips stuttered, and he slammed a few more times into Erwin before himself cumming, letting his release splatter inside of the larger man. He eventually pulled out, watching the white liquid drip out of the larger man's hole provocatively onto the covers beneath them. 

"Mmm. Who's next?" Eren asked. 

Armin took Erwin next, slamming into him from behind, while Levi positioned himself underneath Erwin's body, taking the man's cock inside himself. Erwin drooled, tears running down his face from the dual stimulation, Eren cutting off the elder man's shirt from under the ropes so that he could drip hot wax from one of the candles down his fine, toned shoulderblades during it all, making him cry out and bite into Levi's shoulder. 

The blonde came twice in that position, and once more, while he was bent over the bed, his mouth buried in Eren's balls, and Levi stuffing him full of anal beads, then pulling them out one by one, dragging them against his prostate until he was crying and splattering cum all over the side of the duvet. 

Levi brought him his fifth orgasm, his cock deep in him to the hilt, while two vibrators buzzed against his prostate. He was begging for mercy, his body covered in cum, the ropes raw against his body. 

"Please. Please." He gasped. "No more. Untie me. Let me touch you." He begged, as Armin yanked the two vibrators from inside him. 

The three looked around at each other, and then shrugged. Eren grabbed a knife from the dresser drawer and sawed the ropes off from around him. 

Armin yanked his collar again, putting the large, exhausted man on his hands and knees on the floor. 

The smaller man moved behind him, tonguing at his abused hole. Cum was dripping out of it, and was caked onto the back of his legs, as well as the rest of his body. 

Erwin yelped as Armin's soft, smooth tongue slid around his oversensitive area. 

"Mmmm. I can taste us all inside you, Erwin. You're so warm and stretched out. You've been so good for us." He cooed. 

Eren and Levi kneeled in front of the blonde. They both took a handful of his tousled, sweaty hair as he obediently sucked and licked their cocks, taking one in each hand. Armin ate him out simultaneously, his hand reaching around the front and jerking the elder man's red, overused cock. 

Levi and Eren each came one last time in his mouth and on his face without shame, and Armin coaxed one last orgasm from him, which was nearly completely dry. He wrapped his mouth around the blonde's cock, catching the release, then he put his mouth to Erwin's, feeding him his own cum. 

The larger blonde swallowed obediently, a last bit of cum running down the side of his chin. 

Armin smiled, as he looked over Erwin, covered in cum and red marks from the rope. "You did so good, daddy. So good for us." 

\-- 

After it all, they all laid naked, clean and safe in Erwin's bed, silently running their fingers over the larger man. 

"Was that okay?" Armin asked, a little nervously. "We...I was just thinking about how you're always on top, you know? Maybe it was time for you to be a bottom." 

"That was...Amazing. I love you all. So much." Was all Erwin had to say, before drifting off to sleep. 

\---------------------------------------------- 

EPILOGUE 

\---------------------------------------------- 

Erwin and Eren were in the middle of dragging the Christmas tree up the steep hill to their car when Erwin's cell phone rang. 

He ignored it, yanking the enormous tree up to Eren's Forerunner. They strapped it on, the tree hanging over both sides of the car like something from a Doctor Seuss book. It would look magnificent in their living room with the vaulted ceiling, if they could get it home without dying, which he hoped, because Armin and Levi had promised hot chocolate upon their return.

Erwin's cell phone rang again, and he looked at it. The caller ID said Mike, so he picked it up, being that his blonde friend rarely called him except for the appointed time: every other Thursday at 8:30. 

"Hello?" He said casually, as he climbed in the driver's seat, then was instantly shooed out, as Eren got in the car to drive. The road was covered in snow, and fresh thick flakes were falling from the sky as they drove down the windy road back to their house. 

"Its Mike." 

"What's going on? 

"I'm getting married." 

Erwin's brow lifted and he let a little laugh out through his nose. "What? To whom?" 

"To Hange." 

\-- 

Only two days later, the invitation arrived. It was addressed "To The Ackerman Family: Erwin, Levi, Armin and Eren, Dust and Ropter" which made them all smile. The wedding was planned for spring. Mike said he had decided that he didn't want to be without Hange ever, and apparently, sometimes that's called love. 

They smiled as they looked it over, and hung it up on the fridge. Erwin cuddled Armin around the waist while he held Dust close to his chest, and Levi and Eren cuddled closely on the couch, looking at the falling snow outside. 

And they all lived happily ever after. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe we're done with Fleet Week! Thank you so much for reading all the way through, and all your likes, comments and subscriptions. It's been truly overwhelming for me. This was my first A03 fic, and so it's pretty close to my heart. 
> 
> I hope you check out some of my other works, and as usual, I'm always open to prompts and one-shot suggestions. Just leave me a comment or shoot me an email (which you can see in my profile.)
> 
> Or, just drop me a line and send me love! Hearing from you all is the best and encourages me to keep on writing <3
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> XOXO Foxx

**Author's Note:**

> Please like and comment!


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